Dragon's Road
by GnomeBob
Summary: This story was written by a gnome named Bob. Bob's hobbies are reading and writing fantasy/adventure stories. His interests include Physics, Human Anatomy, Martial Arts, and Dragon Ball. This story was written as a compilation of his interests and set within the world of Royal Road, a fantasy world without limits. This is an original story written by a relatively experienced writer
1. Chapter 1 The Strongest Man in the World

Dragon's Road

Chapter 1  
The Strongest Man in the World

In a large arena in a grand hall stood two men. The first was well built middle aged man who still held the body of one in his prime. The second was a younger, larger man with muscles that rippled over his entire form. The audience favorite was the latter, his body belonged on magazines and in Mr. Universe contests, women swooned over his perfect physique.

The arena's crowd remained silent in anticipation, it was the finals of the World Martial Arts Grand Tournament. Entering required a world rank and sponsorship from an accredited martial school. Winner received $100 thousand, 2nd place took home $50k, and 3rd $25k. The tournament took place every two years and only accepted thirty-two out of the two hundred or so applicants who took part in the preliminary.

The hand of the judge went down and the match begun. The heavy muscled one stepped forward while maintaining his stance. The middle aged one stayed put and waited patiently. As soon as they were within range the exchange began. Elbow thrust, high knee, spiral roundhouse kick, the man with the bulging biceps threw a rapid flurry of powerful blows strong enough to pierce a brick wall. And the smaller man blocked, dodged, and diverted every one of them. He held the attacker at bay without using any great movements, giving any openings, or striking back.

Richard Smith, the man avoiding the previous tournament champion's barrage of attacks was not underestimating or looking down on his opponent. He was simply fighting in a way that had the highest chance of victory. Using minimal movements to avoid damage while using the smallest amount of energy, he intended to draw out the fight and exhaust his opponent. Not that such a thing was easy. The champ was in excellent condition and full of energy, it would take longer than the set limit of the match's length to tire him out in normal conditions. Thus to succeed he left his body at the champ's best range and made himself seem to be open for the champ's strongest attacks.

From an outsider's perspective it appeared that Smith was dodging by the barest of margins and the champ had him completely suppressed, but that was not the case.

When the champ paused to back away and take a breath, Smith moved forward and struck the diaphragm. The champ's armor of muscle softened the blow enough to avoid breathing paralysis, but not enough to protect the air in his lungs. The blow interrupted the breath and Smith took the opportunity to deal a fierce barrage of his own, targeting the diaphragm each time.

It was thanks to that armor of muscle he had emerged victorious in the last two tournaments, the champ could take any attack without problem and most couldn't take a single one of his own attacks. But he was still human and needed to breath so he had little choice but to either move or block Smith's attack. Without being able to take in air as needed his fatigue increased at more than triple the rate.

With a two finger fist and precise aim, Smith struck the champ's blocking forearms along the nerves. The champ finally got in a few breaths while defending so he started his attack again.

Instead of dodging, Smith grasped the champ's hand mid-punch and twisted it. Before he even realized his fist lacked the strength to pull out due to his damaged nerves, the champion's tendons automatically followed the twist of his arm, turning the whole of his body back, with his arm extended behind him.

Like a fisherman reeling in his catch, Smith firmly held the champ's twisted hand and turned it against whatever direction he was trying to go to block all avenues of escape. Smith then casually twisted and pushed against the arm and shoulder to walk him to the edge of the ring, where he unceremoniously forced him to step off, thus winning the match by ring out.

The hall filled with applause, but less than there had been for the champ. Smith's victory looked cheap and undeserved compared the effort they saw the champ show. They had no idea what had taken place in the ring, and couldn't appreciate it.

Richard took the towel offered to him by his second as he left the ring. The victory was as unsatisfying as it looked, despite the effort he put into it. Although the point of the tournament had been to spread his style's name across the world, he secretly hoped he would find someone who could push him to his limits and give him a thrilling fight. He looked at the belt with the words 'World's Strongest' written in gold and could only feel disappointed as he was told to put it on and smile for the cameras.

Next he had to stand before television crews for an interview.

An anchor woman said, "How does it feel to be the world's strongest man?"

Smith answered honestly, "Strength is not measured so easily, and winning this tournament does not mean I am the strongest, only that my style and skill is superior to the ones I defeated."

The next question came from another anchorman, a young one who smiled as he asked, "Do you feel that there is a need for martial artists in this day and age? With modern weapons and tactics, no battlefield requires its soldiers to train for years to fight."

Smith answered, "Fighting is a large part of martial arts but not all of it. Martial arts strengthens the body and promotes health and longevity. As for battlefields, there will always be some things that a true martial artist can do that no government trained soldier can imitate." He was speaking not from pride, but experience, though that was not a story for their ears.

The newscaster seemed to smirk and replied, "You mean fanciful concepts like shooting energy from your hands or attacking faster than a person can see?" A few people chuckled lightly at the sarcastic remark.

Smith backed up a step and said, "You'd be surprised what can be done with the right amount of training. By the way, did you know there is something on your shirt?" After that he turned and left the group. The people who chuckled before suddenly burst out laughing hysterically when they saw that the anchorman's shirt had a neat shoe print on it, the exact size of Smith's shoe, and made in the dust that covered the ring.

"When did he..?" In front of a dozen witnesses and three cameras, not a single person had seen when Smith made the mark. It would only be later when the footage was examined closely that they saw that had Smith lightly kicked the shirt as he stepped back without the interviewer even noticing the impact.

"How'd it go?" asked his second, a junior who joined the dojo five years beforehand.

"I think I made an impression," he answered.

"What kind?" he asked hopefully.

"Shoe."

"What?"

"Nothing."

The pair left straight for the airport, he was not one for sightseeing or souvenirs. He spent the next 48 hours sitting on planes, waiting at airports, and sleeping in hotels before making it to the state of Colorado. There he took a ninety minute cab ride into the rocky mountains only to be dropped off at a gravel trail too narrow for cars to pass through. After twenty minutes of walking, Richard made it to the place he called home, the Temple of the Mind and Body. The Temple head's family bought the land and even had the name on the map officially changed to Temple of the Mind and Body fifteen years prior.

Within was a living space and a dojo whose features borrowed heavily from the shaolin temple. Of course since the dojo's style also borrowed heavily from American Shaolin as well as many other styles, it made sense for the architecture to do so as well.

It was thirty years prior when eight martial artist of varying backgrounds and disciplines joined together to form a style that used the best of the strongest while being both flexible and practical, Xiao Xiang kung fu, the formless style. The foundation of the style was to start with kyusho-jitsu, pressure point fighting and build up from there. This caused some unexpected consequences though. Practitioners under other styles who wished to learn Xiao Xiang kung fu were told by other masters they would be dropped should they do so. This was because when students of the same level in other systems started learning Xiao Xiang kung fu, and applied it to his sparring with students of the same level, they would have an 'unfair' advantage. Pressure points were not taught until the master deemed the person ready to learn them, and long after receiving a blackbelt. But if the students learned it from another style, the prior masters could have no say.

Of course the screening process for accepting new members to the temple was very rigorous. One could not even apply unless they were above 18 and had a high school diploma or equivalent. After being accepted as a student you could choose to live and train on grounds, though most chose to live off site.

When Richard approached, he saw another student in formal attire running up to him from the hall. He thought it was to greet him or congratulate him for the tournament, but the look on the student's face was bleak.

"Sensei, it is master Horren. He is bedridden."

Richard dropped his pack and ran like the wind to his master's chambers.

"Master!"

"Ah, Ricky, you've returned." An aged man who had accumulated over ninety years under his belt, seventy-five of which were spent in constant practice of about two dozen different martial arts, sat up in his bed to greet Smith. He was attended by two doctors, and several expensive looking pieces of medical equipment were stationed around him.

Richard bowed first before approaching and asked, "Are you alright?"

He smiled lightly and said, "As well as an old man can be. Time seems to have caught up to me. No one can outrun it forever of course, not even us." Smith was well aware of what he was talking about. His teacher was born with a heart condition that made it seem unlikely he would live past thirty. Thanks to martial arts, he prospered and beat it. But the condition re-emerged in his old age, and no one knew when his heart would give out.

"I saw on the internet you won the tournament. I'm sorry you didn't find what you were looking for though."

The teacher was not being sarcastic, he knew of Smith's desire for a great fight, and if he saw the video he understood that Smith left the ring empty handed.

"At least our temple has become well known." Smith replied.

The old man smiled a bit before saying, "Yes. And no. I've had some time to look through the internet while in bed, so I know what is known and unknown. Look at this."

He took out a laptop and opened to a video sharing site. He typed in a search and showed Smith a video of the finals for the tournament. "See this number?" He pointed to the number below the video, 319 views. He then typed in another search and opened another video, this one was of a kitten trying to fight a dog who didn't seem to care. The number was 6,477, over twenty times the number of views, and it seemed that both videos came out the same day.

"This is what it means to be well known it seems. I know you did your best and entered the tournament for the sake of the temple, but it seems there is little point now a days. People are just not interested in the martial arts. Too bad." He closed the lid of the laptop and sighed. "I have something else I would like to speak with you about. Kyle does not wish to take up my place when I go. We have talked and agreed that it will be you."

Master Horren was a 10th degree blackbelt of Xiao Xiang kung fu, Kyle was the 9th, and Richard the 8th. It wasn't that either of them knew more than he did, but only one person could hold each of the three highest ranks, and the other two would not ascend until the death of the third.

Smith said, "But it is master Kyle's place to take, not mine."

"Yes. And no. Kyle has the rights to the position, but not the desire to take it. You know him as well as I do, he can't stand staying in one place for very long. You on the other hand have made this temple your home, the position fits you as well as a custom made leather shoe."

Smith understood. In truth he wished he would never reach the 10th degree simply because of what that would mean, but it was a child's wish, unbecoming of a martial artist. "Very well. The temple is in good hands. But I swear to you, I will make the name of this temple and the martial arts you helped create known throughout the world."

Master Horren smiled and said, "I know you will."

After two weeks, master Horren died, and after a solemn funeral attended by every person who ever trained with Horren, over two hundred and fifty people, Smith became the next master of the Temple of the Mind and Body.

One day, a young student knocked on Smith's door.

"Master. Master! I have to show you this."

Smith opened the door to see his student carrying a laptop. Smith was never unkind to students, so he asked, "What is it Jeremiah?"

The young man opened the laptop to a video, it was on a different site, but the layout looked the same as the other video sharing site. The video was the first person perspective of a swordsman fighting against several others in a large room. The fight was impressive, quick reflexes, high skill, and much practice would be required to fight as they did.

"Cool huh?" asked the student.

Smith smiled, "Yes, it is very interesting. What is it? A movie or something?"

"What? No, it is Bard Ray's fight in the tower of Heroes in Royal Road."

"Royal what?"

"Royal Road, it is a full immersion virtual reality video game. I use to play it before I started here."

Smith was behind the times a bit but he knew what a full immersion game was. They used capsules to inject the player's mind directly into the game, where hours sped by four times faster, four days in game was one day in the real world.

His eyes naturally drifted to the view number on the bottom of the video.

"... Seven. Seven million views?"

The student looked confused for a moment before he realized what Smith was talking about. "Oh yeah. His videos are really popular. This only came out a few weeks ago."

An idea came to Smith. He told his student, "Please sit down. I want you to tell me everything you can about Royal Road." Real world tournaments were not the way to go to spread the name of his martial art. This was.

After two weeks for overseas delivery, the capsule Smith ordered from Unicorn Inc, the company that ran Royal Road, had arrived. Six students volunteered to carry the capsule, a coffin sized box through the pass from the delivery truck parked on the road to the temple. Although it had no cable or tvs, the temple did have electricity, phone service, and of course internet, so setting it up on site was not a problem.

After setting up a membership, Smith laid down in the capsule.

_Connect to Royal Road?_  
_Yes | No_

At first he almost got up to see who was speaking, then he realized the woman's voice was from the capsule.

"Yes." he answered.

_The scan on your iris and vein has determined that you are an unregistered user. Do you want to create a new account?_

"Yes."

_Select the Name of your Avatar._

"Ryuu." It was his master's nickname in japan, it meant Dragon.

_Select your gender from Male, Female, or Neutral._

"Male"

_Royal Road has forty-nine races. You may select your race from the primary thirty that are currently available._

The physical characteristics of fantasy races interested him a bit, but there was no point in displaying a martial art made by humans as any other race. "Human."

_You may alter your appearance using the Index provided._

"No change."

_You Account has been activated. Your stats and class shall be determined while you are playing Royal Road.__Select a city and kingdom you wish to start in._

A map of the continent with several blinking points representing the available starting cities was shown.

After a bit of online research his students assisted him with, Smith had decided on a large city in the eastern frontier that had just recently been discovered.

"Brent Kingdom, the capital city of Varhales"

_Welcome to Royal Road._

With a flash of light, Ryuu found himself in a large, lively city with many stone and wooden buildings and many more people. It took a moment to remember that he was actually in a video game, it was only upon close inspection could he could see the details were just graphics. But objects at a distance, like the enormous castle the city was built around, seemed as real and grand as anything he had seen in the real world.

The first thing he did was find a secluded spot so he could punch a wall. It took little time to find an alley, and there he proceeded to hit the wall as fast and as hard as he could. While doing so he noticed two things; the first being that pain was substantially muffled in this game, the impact of the wall against his fist did not hurt nearly as much as it should considering how hard he was hitting it. The second was that he was slow. Although his muscle memory and reflexes were higher, by far, than an ordinary player due to the strengthened nerves years of training gave him, he could not move as fast as his true body could.

"Open Status Window" After using the voice command his student told him about, the menu that showed his physical stats appeared before him.

_Status Window Exit_  
_Avatar Ryuu Alignment Neutral_  
_Title None_  
_Level 1 Class None_  
_Fame None Infamy None_  
_Health 100 Mana 100_  
_Strength 10 Agility 10_  
_Wisdom 10 Intellect 10_  
_Leadership 0 Luck 0_  
_Vitality 10_  
_Attack 2 Defense 0_  
_Magic Resistance None_

Each stat number represented the strength of that characteristic. Each race started out with specific stats which fifty points were initially distributed among. When a character got enough experience points to gain a level, five additional stat points were provided to distribute as the player pleased. However, according to Jeremiah, physical training within the game could increase the physical stats and even generate new ones. If Ryuu wanted to become at least as strong and fast as his real body was, he had to train.

Ryuu walked through a crowd of people to a nearby city guard and asked, "Where can I find a place to train?"

The guard looked over him and said, "Get lost, I have no time for you."

The guard's attitude reminded Ryuu about what his student had also told him about Non-Player-Characters, intimacy levels, and fame. How an NPC treated a character was determined by initial interactions, previous interactions with that NPC or ones close to him, and the total fame of the player. As a starting player, Ryuu had no fame or intimacy.

"Excuse me sir, you're new right?"

Ryuu turned around and saw a young man in brown clothes who seemed to overhear the guard turning him down.

The man continued, "See that over there? That's the map of the city, it'll tell you where everything is."

He pointed to a bulletin board that was next to the area Ryuu had first emerged in game.

Ryuu said, "Thankyou."

The young man smiled and continued on his way.

Ryuu looked over the map. It had street names, stores, restaurants, and even a church. He found a large building with the words, 'Training Hall,' on it, and made a note of its position from the 'You are here' point.

The building he found reminded him of the temple, he was glad there was a place like that in this city.

The sign board in front of the building said, 'Beginner Class training.' Ryuu walked in and saw a large area with at least a hundred indoor trees. He found a heavily built man wearing instructor's robes and said to him, "I wish to train here."

The barbarian looked over Ryuu and frowned before saying, "Sorry, you cannot take the beginner class before completing the basic class, and you don't have the look of one who has done so."

Ryuu asked in return, "Ok, can I take the Basic training class?"

The barbarian shook his head. "No, this hall is for beginner training, you must go to a basic training hall. There is one in the city of Sandor a four day ride northwest of here."

At first Ryuu was disappointed that he would have to travel to another city just to train, but then he remembered of the restriction his student told him was placed on all new players.

"Sorry to say, but I have only recently arrived, I cannot go beyond the walls of this city for one month."

The barbarian thought on this for a moment and said, "Why is it you want to train so badly?"

"Because I am weak, and I need to be stronger."

"A good answer. Very well. If training is what you want, then there is another way. Go to the outer ring of the city and find the house of an old hermit named Kame. He occasionally gives people training and his regimen is better than what you'll receive from the Basic class training. Complete that and I'll let you try your hand the Beginner class training."

Ryuu successfully gained a bit of respect from the man and gained valuable information from him. He thanked the instructor and left.

Cities built around castles were often built in rings, each enclosed by a wall. The outermost wall of Varhales surrounded hundreds of acres of farmland and small homes. It took an hour but Ryuu found the home of the man named Kame by the wall. He knocked at the door and waited. After a few minutes, a bald old man with a white beard and mustache came out.

"Yes? Hello. What can I do for you?" he asked.

The man looked fragile but Ryuu knew looks were deceiving when it came to old martial artists. Ryuu bowed before him as he would a master and said, "My name is Ryuu. I have heard you occasionally give people training, and have come to request it."

"Oh ho. Quite respectful you are. It is a shame, but I quit giving my training to others many years ago. The trials are not for the weak willed, and all but too few had their spirits broken by it. I'm sorry but you've wasted your time."

"Please sir, I am a martial artist who has recently come to Versailles. I find myself weak and I need to be strong. Please sir, I'll do anything."

"Well, you do seem to have the conviction for it. Very well, I'll give you a task. If you pass, I'll give you the basics of my training. If not, then you must swear to never return."

_The Hermit's Task_  
_Rank E_  
_Kame will not train you unless you pass his trial. Succeed and you will be given training superior the Basic Training Program._

_Accept?__Yes|__No_

His first quest. Ryuu had been tested many times and was certain his resolve would guide him through the test and the trials the training required, no matter how difficult.

"I'll do it."

_You have accepted the quest._

The hermit nodded and said, "Very well. Your task is, to tell me a joke to make me laugh."

"... A joke?"

"Make it a good one. I've heard many jokes in my time but it has been awhile since I've had a good laugh."

"But, a joke?"

"You don't know any? A martial artist without a sense of humor is not a martial artist worth training."

"Wait, I know some, just give me a moment."

"Alright."

"Ok, what did the fish say after swimming head first into a wall?"

"What?"

"Dam."

"Hmm, clever, but not good enough."

"Umm. Two cannibals are eating a clown, one turns to the other and says, 'Does this taste funny to you?'"

"Not bad, but I've heard that one before."

Ryuu tried several other jokes, but none managed to make more than a one sided grin appear on his face. The hermit said, "Well, you tried your best, but I did not laugh, you can go now."

"Wait, just wait.. Can I tell a dirty joke?"

"Hmm, sure."

"A pig jumped into the mud."

The hermit's eyes shot up for a moment and he remained silent. Then he burst into laughter. "Ah hahaha! That was a good one."

Ding*

_Quest Complete: The Hermit's Task_

Ryuu sighed with relief.

After calming down from laughing so hard, the old man said, "Haa, Alright. Wait here a moment."

The hermit returned to his home, and after five minutes, came back with some thick black clothes.

"Put these on."

_You have obtained Hermit Training Gi_

After placing them into his inventory, he set the clothes to equip.

_Movement speed reduced by 40%_  
_Stamina consumption rate has increased_.

The clothes were thick, and probably inlaid steel thread. They weighed over 120 lbs and severely reduced his ability to move.

Kame said, "As I said, I will give you the basics of my training. How far you go with it is up to you. Return when you can move around in them easily and you can move onto the next training." and with that, he closed the door.


	2. Chapter 2 Ki Training in Royal Road

Dragon's Road

Chapter 2  
Ki Conditioning in Royal Road

An hour before the sun rose, Ryuu walked down the streets of Varhales carrying four stacked crates of milk. The weight of the milk and the heavy training gi caused his stamina to drop while walking at the same rate it dropped for others while long distance sprinting. Stamina doesn't drop at all unless one performs strenuous activities, but using it up constantly had benefits.

_Endurance rises by 1 point (+1 END)_

After walking around with the weighed clothes for a few days, Ryuu gained a new stat, Endurance. The new stat decreased the amount of stamina his actions used up, prolonging how long he could work, fight, or run before having to rest.

About five hours after Ryuu equipped the gi, he received a message that stated that his Strength stat had increased, something that made it slightly easier to move around. Since then, every once in a while he would receive a message saying that either strength or agility had increased, and after gaining Endurance, that stat increased every once in a while as well. But his stats only increased while doing activities, faster so with physically harsh ones, so to maximize the training he got several physically demanding jobs.

His job as a milk delivery man was that at the porch to each house along his route, he had to put down the crates, set a single bottle of milk on the porch, and and replace it with an empty bottle that was left out. The whole of the delivery of every milk bottle had to be completed before morning and the crates of empty bottles returned to the dairy.

Besides greatly increasing the speed in which he received bonus stats, the jobs gave him enough money to buy food for when his avatar got hungry. Although it was a game, when satiety, hunger got to critical levels, health would decrease over time . And since having a meal increased the rate at which stamina and health recovered for a while, eating a bit before training increased its effectiveness and could prolong its duration.

After another half hour Ryuu returned to the dairy with four crates of empty milk bottles.

The boss said, "Ah, Ryuu, you've return so early. Here is your pay, see you tomorrow?"

Ryuu took the single silver piece and said, "Yes of course. I can take five crates tomorrow if needed."

The boss smiled and said, "Ah, if I had five more like you I'd be able to retire. We'll talk more tomorrow morning."

Ryuu thanked the man again and went to the outer ring of the city. They paid people to plow the land for crops. Of course since they charged a small fee to rent a plow, Ryuu used his hands alone to dig for the whole of the morning.

After finishing a pack lunch he would assist construction workers in the inner city with material delivery. He stacked wheelbarrows of brick and mortar and moved them where they needed to go. That would not have been difficult but the wheelbarrows were flimsy and tended to tip over if not balanced perfectly. The arm strength required to keep it stable when fully loaded was well above average, more so when the sleeves of his gi weighed at least 25 lbs a piece.

The progress was slow and painstaking, but over time he did grow more and more use to the weight of the clothes thanks to the added stats.

After the construction job he would go to a small restaurant that had good, cheap food. One day, a person in what Ryuu recognized to be a mage's robe sat down next to him at his table and said, "Hey, I've seen you here before."

Ryuu nodded, "Good food here."

The mage nodded. He seemed to be late twenties, early thirties, only a few years younger than Ryuu. He said, "You're new to Versailles right? Still stuck in the city?"

"Another three weeks."

"Got a class yet?"

"Not yet."

"Looking for something strong?"

Ryuu stopped eating, looked the mage right in the eye and said, "The strongest."

The man nodded and said, "Well, you look like you're the type to go for a physical class. Am I right?"

Ryuu nodded.

"Well, sorry to break it to you, but in this game, magic beats might."

Ryuu had talked to many people over his life, enough to know the difference between disrespect and honest criticism. The mage spoke for the latter. He was not insulting him, just saying aloud his honest opinion that Ryuu's path was wrong.

Ryuu didn't take it personally, he replied, "I think I'll still choose might. After all, I know nothing about magic in Royal Road."

"Not that much to know. To get a mage class doesn't require prior skill, only money. You pay the mage guild who then gives you the class after you choose a discipline."

"Discipline?" In martial arts, that referred to the branch of martial arts one chose, such as Muay Thai, or Krav Maga.

The mage continued, "Yea, for example I choose lightning. Then I got the Mage class, two skills, and a spell; those being Magic mastery, Lightning Affinity, and Lightning bolt. To get more spells I need to buy the spell books from a magic guild. Of course I can only learn the spells if I meet the required Magic Mastery skill level. I can learn spells from disciplines other than my chosen one, but they won't be as strong unless I learn the affinity skill for their element and train it up as well. Doing so is time consuming and difficult. Mages who learn multiple disciplines and affinities like shamans exist, but they are always weaker than purists for their respective elements since they have to split their time training them."

Plenty of what the mage said could be related certain aspects of martial arts, so Ryuu followed the whole explanation with ease. Ryuu said, "I see. And why tell me this?"

The man smiled. "Simple. I'm offering to sponsor you. I'll pay for the fees to get you the class and two spells of your choice."

"Why?"

"It is what my guild does. I'm apart of the Red Valkyries. The offer is only good if you join the guild. Five months ago I started Royal Road, and while I was still trapped in the city, a guild member recruited and sponsored me. They helped me when I was weak and got me all the way up to level 100. The same offer has been extended to you. The only thing the guild asks in return is to come when the guild requires you."

Ryuu said, "Thanks but no thanks. The strength I need is strength of body. Though I appreciate the offer."

The mage shrugged. "Alright, suit yourself."

Ryuu finished his food and left for the city's quest board. After milk delivery, field work, construction, and dinner, he would go to the board to see what quests were available and which of them could be done by someone low level who couldn't leave the city.

Today however there were only quests to find items or kill monsters. Unless he suddenly discovered a source of mithril ore within the city he wouldn't be able to find it for an alchemist, and until he left the city he wouldn't be able to track bounties or kill monsters.

So instead he found a secluded spot to practice his forms away from prying eyes. First as always, he sat down and focused on his body. He thought back to what the cocky newscaster said to him about fanciful concepts of moving faster than the eye could see and shooting energy out of one's hand. Such things however were not entirely just in the world of television.

Energy is moved through the body through blood vessels and nerves in the form of nutrients, oxygen, and electric pulses sending information. The efficiency nerves move information through the body can be increased through practice, this is the source of muscle memory. The strength of the signals sent from the brain through the nerves to move the body can be increased by using a second source to command movement other than the motor control center of the brain. This secondary source is visualization. The act of visualizing something happening in the body has an effect on the body. Visualizing energy moving through the body can strengthen it, imagining a punch or kick moving faster while punching or kicking can make it faster. The strength of the signals being sent by the nerve cells can be increased to a point where they can have certain effects one won't find in a medical textbook. Using such effects, there are masters who can put a candle out from the other side of a room with a punch, cause a man to faint from a distance without warning or prior knowledge, and do things that can't be truly explained through words other than 'Mind over Matter.'

Outside of Royal Road, he could feel his energy move through his body when he imagined it moving. He could direct his blood to deliver more nutrients to his muscles to make him stronger for a few minutes or direct it to his wounds to heal them faster. However when he started Royal Road, he could not feel it move in his body. Still, imagining his body moving faster in Royal Road did move it faster. So it was not that it did not work, the ability to do so had just been reset to zero for his avatar within the game. He had to build it up again as he once did for his body many years ago.

To start off he imagined moving nutrients to his muscles. He visualized his intestines, the organs that took nutrients from food and imagined energy traveling from them, through his bloodstream to his heart, and then to his muscles (This was most effective if done after eating). He also imagined doing the same for oxygen, flow from his lungs, to his heart, then to his muscles after each breath.

Ding*

_New skill acquired: Ki Circulation._

"Oh? Open skill window, Ki Circulation."

_Ki Circulation [1] 0%_  
_Move ki throughout the body to increase health_  
_Health and stamina regeneration increased by 10% during circulation_  
_+3% STR, AGI, and VIT for 5min after performing Ki Circulation._  
_Requires Ki_

Ryuu had become proficient enough in game terms over the past week to understand that the skill seemed to do in the game what it really did in real life. It made him wonder what other things he could do in real life that could be turned to skills in game.

In any case the stamina regeneration would be useful during his training.

Two weeks after putting on the weighted gi, Ryuu could move as well in it as he was able to without it before starting. He returned to Kame's house and knocked on the door. After a few minutes, it opened revealing the old hermit.

"Hello, who are you?"

"... I'm Ryuu, I asked for your training two weeks ago and you lent me this gi..."

"Huh? Oh yes, that gi does seem familiar. You seem to be moving quite well in it."

"Yes, you said to return once I could."

"Did I? Alright, follow me to the back."

The hermit slowly lead him to the back of his house where his yard met the wall.

He said, "Alright, you can return that gi now."

Ryuu had not unequipped it since he received it, but now he could remove it. After re-equipping his starter clothes, every inch of his body felt weightless.

The hermit handed Ryuu a piece of chalk and said, "Run up the wall as high as you can and mark that spot."

Ryuu felt confident, the stone wall had plenty of traction to grip. He backed up a few feet before running straight into the wall and leaping. His momentum carried him six steps, almost fifteen feet high before he marked the wall and flipped off.

The hermit looked impressed. Then he went to a shed near the back of his house and opened it. It had a dozen hammers, each with a larger sledge than the previous.

"Choose the heaviest one you feel you can use."

Ryuu had no intention of overestimating himself, so he picked one he could swing a few times without losing his balance, it was the third heaviest.

Kame nodded again. "Alright, the next part of your training, wear these."

The old man had four rings in his hand, which Ryuu took.

_You have obtained Atlas Ring of restraint [4]_

After he saw Ryuu equip all four to his hand, the hermit backed away a step and Ryuu followed, but on taking a step, he collapsed from his own weight.

_Physical weight increased by 200%_  
_Stamina consumption rate has increased._  
_Movement speed decreased by 80%_

The hermit said, "Each ring has a gravity type curse on it that increases the wearer's original weight by 50% You can start off wearing one or two, but train until you can wear all four. Then, train until you can run up the wall to the point you marked while wearing all four."

He was about to leave, but from his prone position Ryuu asked, "Wait, what about the hammer?"

"Hmm? Ah, yes. At night there are some annoying crickets that keep me awake. Use the hammer to smash them. When you can smash a cricket with that hammer and run up to that marked point while wearing all four rings, you can move onto the next training." And with that he returned to his home.

Ryuu tried to get up but his body that had weighed 210 lbs, now weighed 630 lbs. The previous training allowed him to handle half that, but now he was back to square one.

It took ten minutes to get up without falling over. It wasn't that it was impossible, but balancing is exponentially more difficult when every part of the body carries more weight than one is use it. Ryuu wondered on whether or not to take off a few rings, but decided against it. He would build back up to 4 eventually, so no point in going backwards. That being said, moving around and doing the jobs he had been up to would be much harder, if not impossible without taking the rings off.

Ryuu put everything he had into running. He decided he would simply run laps around the outer ring until he got the hang of balancing, no matter how many times he fell. It took about fifteen minutes for his stamina to run dry, but that in itself was an opportunity to use Ki circulation to regenerate it faster. Since skills in Royal Road increased in strength with use, the more he used it, the stronger the skill got. After two hours he finished one lap, something his weakest student could finish in 15 minutes on a good day.

He kept going until the early hours of the morning. At that point he could walk at normal speed without suddenly falling over, but there was no way he could hold five milk crates. He discovered when he tried to lift the hammer that the increase in weight applied to things he lifted as well as his equipment.

Instead of giving up or backing down, Ryuu went to the dairy an hour and a half earlier. The boss was there and allowed him start earlier. Ryuu could not hold all five crates so he picked up one, delivered the milk, picked up the empty bottles, and returned to get the next crate. It required more work and took more time, but he successfully managed to deliver the milk.

The same way he plowed the fields and did construction, he took more time with lighter loads, but he did each job. Although both physically and mentally exhausting, at the very least Ryuu knew the training was worth the effort it took. The point at which he got used to Kame's training gi was the point that he no longer received stat points while working in it. Since switching to the rings, he had already received seven stat points in less than twenty four hours, by far a record for his stat training.

After eating dinner he bypassed the city quest board and went straight to his training spot.

He was starting to get the feeling of his ki again after two weeks of daily Ki circulation. By focusing it in his legs he could withstand more weight and run faster, by focusing it in his arms he was stronger and his punches were faster. Focusing his ki was really just strengthening the image that his limbs were receiving more nutrients and oxygen, thus were stronger, but it was simpler to think of it as energy and ki.

As always before training, he started with breathing and focusing on his body.

_Skill level up: Ki circulation [6]_

The skill had been increasing often due to how much he had been relying on it to recover.

"Show skill window, Ki circulation."

_Ki Circulation [6] 1%_  
_Move ki throughout the body to increase health_  
_Health and stamina regeneration increased by 60% during circulation_  
_+4% STR, AGI, and VIT for 10min after performing Ki Circulation._  
_Requires Ki_

The more he used the skill, the more useful it got. And it was still accurate to using the skill in real life. The more one used it, the stronger the nerve pathways got to use it again, making it easier to use with greater effects.

After confirming the progress of the skill, Ryuu decided this was the time to start practicing using Ki attacks in his avatar.

In the real world, Ryuu could imagine his nerves sending energy to his fists and bursting the energy out at the moment of impact. Besides dealing greater exterior damage, such an attack could also deal interior damage.

Nerve cells are not wires, but a series of transmitters and receivers sending information across small gaps using electric signals. If the strength of the signal was increased, the distance of transmission could increase as well. It was through this concept one person's nervous system could affect another's through touch without a direct nerve connection. A precise application of which could be used manipulate another's organ and muscles to hurt or even heal specific areas. A less precise skill, whose only function was destruction, was to send a large, violent signal of ill intent through contact into another's body. The effect of which was similar to using a taser on a computer, it damaged the inner systems. This however was never taught to beginners. More so even than pressure point strikes, ki attacks were dangerous. Receiving a strong ki attack can disrupt blow flow or organ function. This can even lead to organ failure without an obvious medical cause and result in death. Of course outside of videogames, it took more than a few months or even years of training to achieve such results. And in order to train to achieve them in the first place, you had to know it was possible to do so. Thus, this had become one of the larger secrets of martial arts and it was of course forbidden to use in tournaments due to its lethal nature. Therefore the concept of energy fists that could kill with one punch was looked at by the public as hype, and the the part of the martial arts community that knew the truth, let it be so.

That being said, killing someone in Royal Road was not really killing them. And using a fantasy-like skill in a fantasy game was not actually revealing that the skill was real.

After two hours of punching while imagining the energy traveling to his hand and bursting out with the right timing, he got two messages.

Ding*

_New skill acquired: Ki Strike._  
_You have gained a skill that uses up Ki. You can add the Ki bar to your screen from the Display menu in the Systems Option_

"Ki bar? In the Display menu?... Open Menu."

The menu opened in front of him. He clicked System which opened more options. There he clicked Display.

_Display Menu_  
**_Show messages √_**  
**_Show Health bar √_**  
**_Show Mana bar √_**  
_Show Ki Bar_  
_Back | Exit_

Since he had no skills that used mana so he unclicked 'Show Mana bar' and clicked to highlight 'Show Ki Bar.' After finishing he clicked, 'Exit,' but this prompted another window to show up.

_Would you like these changes applied to your status menu as well?_  
_-Remove 'Mana' gauge from the Status menu_  
_-Add 'Ki' gauge to Status menu_  
_Yes | No_

"Hmm, sure." He clicked 'Yes,' then to see the effect, he said, "Show Status Menu."

_Status Window |Exit_  
_Avatar Ryuu | Alignment Neutral_  
_Title None_  
_Level 2 | Class None_  
_Fame 5 | Infamy None_  
_Health 320 |Ki 170_  
_Strength 26 | Agility 29_  
_Wisdom 10 | Intellect 10_  
_Leadership 0 | Luck 0_  
_Vitality 19 |Endurance 30_  
_Attack 9 |Defense 2_  
_Magic Resistances- None_

To check if 170 Ki was a lot or not, he said, "Open skill window Ki Strike."

_Ki Strike [1] 0%_  
_Moves ki to the extremities and bursting it at the moment of impact._  
_Attacking with Ki increases attack and adds non-physical Damage. _  
_Cost: 20 Ki_

According to the numbers, he could use the skill eight times before his Ki ran dry.

A side effect of having no Ki, besides, being dead tired, was that he could not use the Ki circulation skill. Also, Ki took longer to regenerate than mana or even health did, so it was not something to be wasted casually.

Ryuu went back to Kame's house each day to try the wall run, but it took four days before he could go more than three steps up the wall. Also, the crickets he had to smash only came out at night. The bugs themselves were black and thus impossible to see in the shadow of the wall cast by the moon, and they jumped away whenever the hammer was brought down. Ryuu found himself having to hold up the hammer while listening for the sounds of chirping each night, and smashing the dark floor, hoping a cricket was beneath it.

One night three weeks after putting the rings on, Ryuu smashed down the hammer and listened quietly, only to hear silence. A few days later after hundreds of failures, he was able to run seven steps up the wall to his previous mark.

Ryuu knocked on Kame's door once more.

"Oh, hello. I can't hear any more crickets, that's pretty impressive. You reach your mark?"

Ryuu held up his hand wearing four rings and said, "Yep. I'm ready for the real training."

Kame said, "Alright, then go to the beginner training hall."

"What? But what about your training?"

"My training? You've been doing my training since you started, and now you've completed it obviously. Here is your reward." He got out another gi, an orange one that looked lighter, and seemed to be made of nicer materials. Ryuu almost expected it to be heavier than stone, but it was lighter than a feather.

_You have obtained Hermit Graduate Gi_

"Good luck. You can keep the rings. I have no intention of taking another student anyways so I won't need them. Sell them or give the training to someone else. Good luck and goodbye." With that he closed the door.


	3. Chapter 3 Familiar Training

Dragon's Road

Chapter 3

Familiar Training

Ryuu equipped the gi Kame gave him and returned to the Training hall. The instructor there this time was different from the previous one.

Ryuu said, "Hello, can I take the beginner class training?"

The man looked at him and said, "Hmm, you don't seem to have done the basic training, but you do appear strong."

"Yes, I completed Kame's training."

"The hermit? Prove it. Show me your status window."

"Hmm, alright. Display status window."

_Status Window Exit_  
_Avatar Ryuu | Alignment Neutral_  
_Title None_  
_Level 2 |Class None_  
_Fame 37 | Infamy None_  
_Health 1130 | Ki 290_  
_Strength 75 |Agility 68_  
_Wisdom 10 | Intellect 10_  
_Leadership 0 | Luck 0_  
_Vitality 62 |Endurance 81_  
_Attack 22 |Defense 7_  
_Magic Resistances- Gravity 12%_

The instructor said, "You've completed Kame's training alright, and at level 2 no less. The gravity resistance is a dead give away. His training is quite famous in this city, and those rings he lends for training are extremely rare. I have no idea how he managed to get so many of them, but all the guys who finish it have some resistance to gravity magic by the end. Though I don't know how yours stacks up to theirs. The stats you have achieved are impressive as well. Yes, I think I can let you can attempt the challenge. Follow me."

At random points during the three weeks he wore the four Atlas rings of Restraint, he received messages saying his resistance to gravity magic increased. If it weren't for these, he never would have been able to complete the hermit's tasks.

After entering the hall, Ryuu noticed that in the large area with a hundred indoor trees was a swordsman fighting some people. There were however fewer trees than he remembered. Ryuu took a closer look and saw that the ones the swordsman was fighting, were actually made of wood.

The instructor said, "Infinite wooden warriors. Wood absorbs impacts by splintering, and the warriors themselves repair and regrow broken parts faster than a troll. If you don't finish them before they regrow you will never beat them."

Ryuu didn't know how fast a troll regenerated but he saw the splintered arm of a wooden fighter grow back in a few seconds. Not just that. The trees themselves were slowly turning into more fighters and approaching the combatant.

The swordsman fell and was soon covered in warriors. A few moments later he was dead and the warriors returned to being trees.

"This is the beginner class training?"

"Yes. Don't worry about your level. Those are special trees. The warriors they produce match your skill. Your elevated stats won't help you either as they adjust for that as well. Also, within the grounds, skills cannot be activated, so your lack of them as a low level beginner won't hurt you. This challenge is all about your ability as a fighter."

"Is that so? Sounds perfect."

"I like your enthusiasm. The trees the swordsman fell have already regrown, you can start anytime."

Ryuu entered the area. Immediately the two closest trees morphed into warriors with wooden weapons. Ryuu had a hard time not cracking up. Fighting against multiple opponents simultaneously, having men with wooden weapons come at him from every angle, this was one of his favorite types of practice sessions he did at least every other month at the temple.

Ryuu moved to the first warrior and forced the hilt of the sword up and down, throwing the sword back and forcing the warrior off balance before smashing it to the floor and dealing a finishing palm strike to the head, snapping it off. The entire attack was one motion. Ryuu moved to deal with the next while keeping his eyes on the trees that were beginning to morph.

Don't get cornered. Keep the opponent's positions and attack range in your mind. Don't focus on any one enemy over the others. Use your own position to control the position of the enemy. Ryuu heard own his voice telling his students these principles when they were set at the challenge. To fight in such condition, in such numbers, against opponents he had no need to withhold a final blow from, was like a dream come true.

Of course there were a few added bonuses. The wooden warriors were not affected by pressure point strikes, and weak blows set to cripple or slow bounced right off the resilient wood. Any blows that did cripple without dealing lethal damage repaired themselves if the warrior was not dealt with soon after. Ryuu considered all of these things bonuses because they made the fight far more difficult, and that was exactly what he wanted.

Ryuu put his heart into every smashing punch, his soul into every splitting kick, and with a wide grin on his face hammered the wooden warriors with the martial arts he had spent the better part of his life perfecting.

"I have never seen someone so beat up look so happy about it." The instructor was looking over Ryuu who collapsed after using all his stamina.

"How'd I do?" Asked Ryuu, still grinning.

"Nothing but splinters here. Can't say I'm surprised Kame's student succeeded on his first try. But you are the first person to beat it without either a class or weapon."

Ryuu chuckled again.

The instructor continued, "You know, you have the potential in you to be a true fighter. If you want you can become a Master Fighter. You will be able to equip any weapon. Your punches and kicks will become stronger too. It is the secret class of a Martial Arts Practitioner."

_You can convert to the secret class 'Master Fighter'_  
_You will be able to use special skills related to this class._  
_You could raise Weapon Mastery further. Attack and Vitality increases. _  
_Do you wish to change your class?_  
_Yes | No_

The name of the class sounded good at least, but a class that could use any weapon was wasted on him. "No thanks, I'll be fine."

_You have decline the offer to obtain the class._

"Alright, your call. Now for the prize. The prize itself is determined by the performance. You have the chance to attain a new skill. Whatever action you take, a skill will be created. Do as you wish."

Ryuu thought about it and had his answer almost instantly. There was something he could do in the real world but no matter how hard he tried, he could not create the skill in Royal Road.

While still on the ground, Ryuu concentrated on the energy of the world around him, and felt in enter him and strengthen his own energy. When he used Ki the real world, he could recharge by taking in energy of the outside world.

_You have learned a new skill: Natural Ki absorption._  
_It takes ki produced by the natural world into the body_  
_The strength of the ki taken in is determined by Affinity to Nature._  
_Stat: Affinity to Nature formed_

"So I needed affinity to nature to absorb natural ki? Well, got it now." It made sense to a degree. In the real world, energy he took in was stronger when he was in a natural setting. Doing so in a city for example was pointless, this was one of the reasons the Temple was built in the natural setting of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado.

Ryuu left the training hall and found a spot to use Ki circulation to reclaim his health and stamina before he headed to the monks guild. Of all the classes, monks were the only one that specialized in hand to hand combat.

At the desk of the monk's guild, Ryuu said, "Hello, I'd like to get the monk class."

The young women at the counter said, "You already have a gi it seems. Most gis require you to possess the monk class, is that one classless? That's cool. Alright, go into the room behind me and ask for the test. It is a simple spar. You don't have to win, just prove you have what it takes to be a monk."

Ryuu thanked the women and entered the room. There was a young man waiting there.

"Hello, you wish to become a monk? Let's see what you got."

Ryuu gave a bow which was returned and they pair started. A second and a half later the instructor was on the ground with his arm locked behind him.

"Okay, okay, I yield." Ryuu let him up and he continued, "Wow, that was quick."

"I just saw something good." From the rafters, a man was watching the match. He rolled off and landed effortlessly landed.

He looked over Ryuu and asked, "Would you care for a spar with me?"

The instructor said, "But-" and was silenced with a hand from the old man.

Ryuu gave another respectful bow and set his stance.

The man leaped forward with a punch. Ryuu dodged with a half-step but received a kick instead. A flurry of punches came in rapid succession but only three were dodged. Ryuu used a Ki empowered kick but felt a resisting ki against his own in the man's defense. It took no time for Ryuu to realize how much the old man was holding back, he was just measuring Ryuu's strengths. So he gave it everything he had.

After two and a half minutes, Ryuu was on the ground, his ki completely spent, with health reaching critical levels. This was the first time in over ten years he had been put into such a condition twice in one day, though the outcome this time was a loss compared to the earlier one.

The old man extended a hand to help lift the exhausted Ryuu off the ground. After he dusted himself off, Ryuu said, "Thankyou for the match."

"Ha ha ha. The pleasure is mine. It's been decades since I've seen a recruit with such promise. My name is Korth, I'm the head of this guild."

Now Ryuu understood why the man gave off the feeling of a master, it was because he was one.

Korth said, "You wish to become a monk right? Well that might not be good enough for you. You see there are a few different kind of monks, each with their own strengths and flaws. Most would be overcome by these flaws, and never achieve their true strength so for them, the best class is the common monk. For you however the common monk may not be best. I do however, not know which one would be."

The previous instructor Ryuu had taken down, went to the head and whispered into his ear.

"Oh ho, what a great idea!" He turned back to address Ryuu. "Yes. I shall give you a quest that is above your abilities. Then you must complete it. If you cannot without a class, then the common monk is best for you. If you can, then how you overcome it will determine which monk you'd be best at. Yes. Now, give me a few minutes to think of a good quest."

Ryuu waited in the lobby of the guild thinking over the situation. It reminded him of a story his master had told him, about the founder of mantis style kung fu. The founder had three disciples, each was taught a little differently, and each passed their training onto their own disciples until, long after the founder passed on, there were three similar, but different systems, each calling themselves mantis kung fu. So the question is, which is the real one? The answer is, all of them. The founder taught each student differently because each of the three had different strengths and weaknesses. He taught them each a variant that would make them the strongest they could be.

Master Korth returned sometime later with a large grin. "I must say I've outdone myself on this. Ok, here is your quest. In a place called Kabbot cave there are creatures called Vexing Pixies. Defeat fifty of them and return."

Ding*

_Kabbot Cave Pixie Slayer_  
_Rank D_  
_Defeat 50 of the vexing pixies that live is Kabbot cave and return. Upon showing your stat and skill progression, Guild master Korth will be able to determine the best class of monk for you._  
_Progress 00/50_

_Reward_  
_A Variant Monk class determined to match your traits_

"Very well," Ryuu answered. "I'll do it."

_You have accepted the quest._

"Excellent. I look forward to you return." With that, Korth returned to the other room.

The instructor from before came up to Ryuu and said, "If you didn't know, Kabbot cave is a four days walk south of here. There are signs and such so it is not difficult to find. That being said, vexing pixies are level 80, and the cave has hundreds of monsters around level 60 and 70. You should train some before attempting the cave."

"I see. Where is a good place to do so?"

"Hmm. I'm sorry but I would not know such things. Maybe one of the city guards would know. They are often tasked to train themselves and it is their job to know where the enemy is."

Made sense to Ryuu. No NPC could know everything. If he wanted specific information, he had to find the right one to get it from. There was some information though that this NPC should be aware of, and Ryuu wanted to learn of it before leaving.

"What other kinds of monk are there?" He asked.

The instructor said, "Hmm, quite a few, even I don't them all. There's the devout monk, the shadow monk, the fallen monk, and there's even a wandering monk class. I am but an ordinary monk, so am barely familiar with the particular traits you'd need to show to obtain a specific one."

"Can you tell me any?"

"Hmm, no. I do not have enough familiarity with you to share such information. And even if I did, I would still would not. The quest is an aptitude test, doing it right will yield the best class for you, cheating on it will not."

Ryuu agreed with the man, he only asked to see how much information he could reliably get from the NPC. He left the guild and found a city guard. However it turned out to be the same one who told him off his first day. He could try to find another, but he decided against it. After doing a few small time quests, and several jobs, Ryuu had learned much about dealing with NPCs

"Excuse me, but do you know good place I can train?"

The guard looked over Ryuu and said, "I have no time for nobodies, go bother someone else."

"I'm sorry to have bothered you, I just wanted to get strong so I could protect the people of this city. Who else am I going to ask how from, but one of the city's protectors?"

He looked back over Ryuu and asked, "Where'd you get that gi? It looks familiar."

"This? Is was given to me by a hermit named Kame."

"What? Did you train under Kame?! My old mentor trained under him. Strongest man I ever knew. Hmm. want somewhere to get stronger. I got a report that a large group of kobolds took up camp in an abandoned fort this morning. Kobolds are too small time for us, but it would be a good fit for you. The fort is six miles southwest of here. Go if you want."

"Thankyou sir." Kyuu left for the front gate of the city.

The plains outside the city was filled with equal parts players and rabbits. A few bright orange foxes littered the area, some of which were chasing small players.

To the distant south was a long mountain range. To the north, west, and east, were roads and plains spaced with a few trees. Ryuu didn't know if his destination was on the southern road, so he used the sun for directions and ran directly southwest.

A minute after he started running, he heard someone running behind him. Ryuu turned to see a man with a long bow and tunic sprinting for his position. At first he thought the person was looking for a fight, but if he used that bow he would not approach his target as he did.

When the bowmen approached, he said, "Hey, where are you going? There is nothing that way."

"I have been told differently." Ryuu replied.

"You hunting on your own? What game?"

"... Kobolds."

"Oh. My name's Telkin, I'm a level 15 ranger. I'm in a party hunting wolves. But they're too easy now. Can my party join you?"

"One question first. Why did you run to me?"

"Ah. You're new right? No one does anything without a reason in this game. Keep your eyes open or you'll miss something important. Something like a monk traveling off the roads but in a specific direction."

Now Ryuu understood what gave him away. He considered the ranger's offer. Overall he would get more experience from killing the kobolds on his own, but there was more than just battle experience to be had. The ranger proved he a different kind of experience, and learning from that might be useful.

"Alright," answered Ryuu. "The kobolds are in a fort in this direction. I'll go first and you and your party can meet me there."

"Sure. Thanks." After that the ranger walked back. He was likely tired after trying to catch up to Ryuu's running.

Ryuu continued on, and about an hour later, made it to the fort. From a distance it looked large and empty, anyone who didn't know what Ryuu was told would pass it by without a thought. Even the gate was open.

Ryuu entered the gate and saw a dozen or so small monsters with rusty bronze swords and wooden shields. There faces and heads look like a mix between a dog and a lizard. Thier bodies were no bigger than a child's.

"Human!" At the cry, the other creatures noticed the intruder and charged.

Ryuu stepped up to one that was reeling back for a sword strike and gave it a soccerball kick, sending the ugly thing to the other side of the fort.

_You have gained a level!_

"Attack!" The creatures were pouring out of houses in the fort like insects. Ryuu took a low stance and kicked and punched the little monsters. Most went down after one hit but a few of the larger, chunkier ones took two or even three well placed hits to fell.

_You have gained a level!_  
_You have learned a new skill: Unarmed combat mastery._

Another group of kobolds were sent flying with kicks.

_Skill level up: Unarmed combat mastery [2]_

And another group.

_You have gained a level!_

From what Ryuu knew, kobloids were between level 20 and 30. A normal level 2 player should have difficulties fighting a level 5 rabbit, and have no chance against a level 15 fox, but compared to ordinary players, his avatar was a bit cheaty. Not that Ryuu had any problems with that. In real life if someone trained their heart out and became stronger for it than someone who didn't train, it wasn't considered cheating.

_You have slain 50 kobolds, chaotic creatures that destroy nature._  
_Affinity to Nature rises by 1 (+1 AtN)_

It seemed the more evil monsters he killed the better, but the kobolds inside the fort numbered a few hundred. Ryuu could fight groups, but armies were a different matter. Regardless of the increase in level, his health and stamina were decreasing, and because he was classless, he had no auto-assign function he could activate for his stats. So until he opened his status menu and assigned them, he was not getting any stronger no matter how ridiculously fast he was gaining levels.

He kept at the fort's gate so he could run if needed as well as funnel the incoming mob through one opening. However the odds were mounting against him. Kobolds has taken position on the walls and were slinging rocks at him. Times like this he wished he really did have a skill to shoot energy out of his hands, but at that thought, one of the kobolds fell from the wall, an arrow sticking from its head.

"You idiot, you charged the fort on your own?!"

The ranger had showed up with two friends, a man in a white robe and a woman wearing a half-plate, sword, and steel shield.

The priest said, "Oh mighty lord, watch over and protect us, Healing hand."

A white form in the shape of a giant hand wrapped over Ryuu, his health bar replenished some.

The knight charged in and took position next to Ryuu in the doorway, preventing the kobolds from taking their backs or getting to the priest or ranger behind them.

With someone by his side to take half of the monster's attention, Ryuu was no longer overwhelmed. The priest cast the occasional healing spell and the ranger sniped the targets Ryuu and the knight couldn't reach.

Ryuu kept watch over the knight, she had a little skill with a sword but too many openings. Whether it was because she was a woman or because she was fighting by his side he didn't know, but for some reason Ryuu felt a little protective and took measures to watch her back.

The kobolds continued to pour in and Ryuu realized that the party was on its last leg. The knight had far less stamina than he did and so much continuous fighting was wearing her down to the bone. It had been a while since the last healing spell which meant the priest had run out of mana. And the bowman's arrows were coming less and less frequently.

It wouldn't be long before the knight fell and kobolds passed around Ryuu to kill the other two. Ryuu decided there was only one way to save them.

"Aaaarrhhhhhh!" Ryuu roared, kicked the four kobolds in front of him, and charge into the fort.

Most of the kobolds followed him, leaving too few to overpower the knight.

The ranger saw the whole thing and said aloud, "That crazy bastard."


	4. Chapter 4 Fun With Kobolds

Dragon's Road

Chapter 4  
Fun with Kobolds

Ryuu ran through the heavily occupied fort. The doors of each building opened as he passed, releasing more of the child sized creatures which joined the group that was already chasing him.

The difference between running away and tactical retreat is whether or not one has a destination in mind. Ryuu was running along the wall, looking for a passage that would lead to the walkway that overlooked the area. No matter their numbers, if he could find such a passage, they could only follow him through single file.

However he never got the chance. Alarms had been raised all over the fort and kobolds came from every direction. It wasn't long before he was completely surrounded with no practical means of escape.

With no direction to run, Ryuu took a stance and prepared himself. Although this was the first time he was likely to die in the video game, it was not the first time his life was in danger. His master felt someone could not properly appreciate a man's power to take life unless one was put into situation where one's life was not guaranteed. Though the pigmy lizards were quite a bit less menacing than adults with fire in their eyes and guns in their hands.

The kobolds formed a half circle around Ryuu against the wall, but did not come closer. At first Ryuu wondered why, but then he saw a large, seven foot tall figure wearing a helmet approach from behind a building. It had the head of a kobold beneath the helm, but where the others were scrawny and small, this one was thick, with bulging muscles and taller than a man. Above its head in red letters spelled out the name, Rectisk.

The kobolds between the large one and Ryuu shouted, "Make way for the general."

"Kobold general?" Ryuu asked aloud.

The creature moved its hand to his back where It seemed he had strapped a bronze greataxe. It made its way into the circle. It let out an intimidating roar that surpassed Ryuu's own in ferocity and set a stance of his own.

Once again, Ryuu could not help but let a large grin stretch over his mouth. This game was his kind of fun.

The general stepped forward with a horizontal axe slash Ryuu dodged by jump kicking the monster's face. The kobold staggered back a bit but returned with quick a diagonal slash. Ryuu used Ki Strikes to counter whenever the monster used its large attacks. The resistance his attacks felt against the creature's skin meant it was much stronger than the fodder he had been dealing with, so he only attacked when safe to do so. One false move and his body would be split in two by the blade of the massive axe, one wasted step and his ki depleted body would be defenseless against the next strike, one command from the general and the dozens of kobolds that surrounded them both would overwhelm him. It was a good day.

Ryuu jumped over the downward axe slam to deal an axe kick of his own to the top of the general's helm. The impact rang loud and the heel of his foot went numb. After landing he saw that the helm had been pressed over the kobold general's eyes and he had moved his hands to press it up. Ryuu took a step back for room and charged into the kobold's gut with a flying, ki powered knee strike. The power sent the kobold into the wall which shook from the blow. The red name Rectisk faded and the general didn't get back up.

_You have gained a level!_  
_You have gained a level!_  
_You have gained a level!_  
_You have gained a level!_  
_New Stat: Fighting Spirit_  
_Skill level up: Unarmed combat mastery [5]_  
_You have learned a new skill: Disarm._

Another new stat and so many skill points and no time to examine the stat or assign the points. Though he did feel stronger than he did since the start of the battle. A 'Mastery' skill is one that strengthens whatever is being mastered, so 'unarmed combat mastery' would increase his attack and attack speed as the skill grew in level. Sometimes such skills would generate new skills upon reaching a certain level.

The kobolds hesitated to approach, someone who could fell their general was strong enough to be feared.

Ryuu immediately understood the situation, so he took the pause in battle to open his stat bar and assign his stats, he had no time to divide them as he pleased, so he put all he could into vitality. Vitality increased health and Ki, so increasing the stat while injured would increase health, though not restore it. He had hit level 15 so had 75 points to spend, he managed to increase the stat by 24 before the kobolds overcame their shock and charged.

However the attack pattern was as different from before as day is from night. Some attacked, some ran, some slashed aimlessly, accidentally(?) hurting the ones next to them. It was as if the death of the general removed all organization from the kobolds within the camp.

Ryuu attacked the ones who seemed to know what to do and moved closer to the ones that didn't. Soon he was surrounded by knitwits that seemed to have no ability to attack together. Not long after the crowds of kobolds had spread out, the party from before had penetrated the camp and was killing wave after panicking mobs. Telkin, the ranger, was sniping the fleeing kobolds while the knight was cutting down group that approached the priest who himself was pounding the small creatures with the his top heavy wooden staff.

Telkin shouted, "You're still alive? Gothor!"

"Healing Hand!" The priest cast another healing spell, it seemed he had recovered at least some of his mana.

The battle went on for another half hour. Many of the kobolds fled, but most had been killed, and Ryuu had reached level 16.

The camp was filled with some two hundred corpses, in hindsight Ryuu realized that coming into the camp alone was foolish. A fort is built to be guarded, and displays its strengths when attacked by small forces. If there had been a second general to command the kobolds, or if they had not scattered so aimlessly upon Rectisk's death, Ryuu would be dead.

Although he felt truly alive in such danger, there was great loss in death, even in a game. When one died in Royal Road, their account was locked for 24 out of game hours and the skill proficiency percentage dropped 5~12% for each skill, with the ones most relied on taking the bigger hit. Ryuu's Ki circulation skill was at beginner level 8 with 87% towards the next level. If he died, that could drop to as low as 75%. Such a loss would take about ten hours of constant use to regain proficiency. Ki strike would take a hit as well. Counting the loss of four in game days and the time it took to regain lost skill proficiency, dying in Royal Road cost an entire week of game play time, not to mention the possible loss of items upon death.

Telkin walked up to Ryuu and said, "You are definitely an idiot. When you said 'meet up with you here,' I thought you meant you'd check it out and wait till we got here. We could've waited until night and drawn them out in small groups. That's how you get the most out of a field hunting ground."

"Wait until night?" His student didn't say anything about time preferences for hunting.

"You are new huh. Alright, remember this. Monster strength for fields, or areas not apart of a dungeon, increases by 50% at night. The experience for killing them also increases by 30% at night. I'll also tell you this; inside a dungeon is the same as outside at night. So in a dungeon filled with kobolds, they will be 50% stronger, they will give 30% more experience after killing them, and they will drop better loot than the ones you've killed here. Speaking of loot. How about we split it fifty-fifty for this place. My party gets half, you get half. Sound fair?"

"Sure. By the way, what about guys with red names over their heads?"

This shocked Telkin out of his loot collecting, "What? Did you see one here? Where? Is it still here?"

Too many questions. Ryuu simply walked over to the general's corpse and motioned for the ranger to follow.

Telkin examined the giant kobold for a moment and said, "The hell? What level are you?! Kobold generals are level 40, and red names mean they are 20% stronger, they also give more experience."

"My level is currently 18," he answered, "don't think about it too much."

"Currently? As in killing all that got you to 18? I killed a fraction of what you killed, and I'm at lvl 19. Yeesh, alright, I won't ask, thinking about that gives me a headache anyways."

Ryuu went back to collecting fallen loot. The lot of them would put everything they found in a pile and split it in half for distribution. Ryuu didn't really trust them at this point, but they rushed in to the fort to fight when it would have been wiser not to, so that told him something about them.

After thinking about how to do it for a while, Ryuu opened his status window and assigned the remainder of his stats to strength and agility. 25 to strength, and 40 to agility. His own precision could target the weakest points of a target to increase damage, so he didn't need too much more strength, but he couldn't deliver attacks or dodge at the speed he wanted, so agility was required. He noticed and remembered the new stat currently at 1, Fighting Spirit, and said, "Show Stat Fighting Spirit."

_Fighting Spirit: You can call on superhuman strength temporarily, or bring weaker monsters to their knees with a force in your eyes alone. You are prohibited from distributing stat bonus points to this stat, and it rises spontaneously. Depending on the avatar's action, especially if you fight monsters for a long time, or often confront monsters stronger than your current level._

It seemed interesting at least. If the skill rose on its own just like Affinity to Nature, he would have to make a point to put himself in situations that would make them rise more often.

After an hour, all the fallen kobold's loot was in a pile in the middle of the fort. After splitting it, Telkin asked, "Ryuu, what are you going to do next?"

"Hmm. Find another place to train I guess."

"I see, wanna join us? We've talked about it and could definitely use a power hitter like yourself."

"And do what? Hunt wolves?" Wolves were level 25, although they gave more experience than kobolds, they moved in small dangerous packs and were highly intelligence. Because of the difficulties of hunting them, it was better to hunt weaker monsters that were in larger groups.

"Nope, more kobolds. There is a dungeon full of them. These guys probably came from there. With just the three of us we're too weak to give it a go, but with you it'll work."

"Alright." Ryuu remembered what Telkin said before, so although in dungeon Kobolds would be stronger, they would also give more experience.

Telkin said, "Cool, would you like to join our party?"

_You have received an invite to join Telkin's party._  
_Accept?__Yes|__No_

"I'm in.

_You have joined Telkin's party_

"Sweet, let's return to the city to sell the stuff and supply up."

Ryuu sold his loot at the city as the others did, but he didn't buy anything. He didn't need anything. Ki circulation and natural ki absorption increased the rate his usable bars replenished themselves, so he had no need for stamina or health increasing herbs or bandages. He had no weapons that needed repairing or arrows to buy. The only thing he needed was food, and his inventory already had some preserved food packed as well as the makings for traps to catch his own if needed.

The group regathered at the gate after buying what they needed and set off for the kobold cave. It was only a few hours walking distance from the city.

The priest Gothor said, "Oh yeah, we're not the only ones who know of this place, we'll probably encounter another other parties."

Telkin said, "Yeah, just stay out of their way and they'll stay out of ours."

Ryuu had one more question, "Does this dungeon have a boss?"

Telkin answered, "Yep, at the bottom is a level 60 named mob, a kobold king. Since he's in a dungeon he's 50% stronger, and being named makes him another 20% stronger. So his actual strength is about level 100. Don't even think about."

He wouldn't, for now.

The group made their way into the cave. After a minute they found a group of armed kobolds, each with a shield in one hand and a sword in the other. Ryuu loved those flat wooden shields. When his kick didn't pierce through them, the kobold on the other side was launched backwards into whoever stood behind them, knocking the lot down like a row of dominos.

After the shield bearers were down, Telkin sniped the furthest kobolds and the knight helped Ryuu take out the rest.

The group was decently efficient, they stopped to rest a few too many times for his taste, but during those breaks Ryuu took the opportunity to farm Telkin for game details.

"So, if dragon skin has complete resistance to magic and their hides take almost no damage from a physical attack, how would one kill a dragon?" Asked Ryuu. He wanted to know the strengths of the strongest in Royal Road, so naturally dragons came up.

Telkin answered, "That's the question isn't it. Well, if neither physical nor magical strength is enough to kill one, the answer has been thought to be a combination. Specifically, a high damage magic weapon that can pierce through the dragon scales and cast powerful magic beneath the dragon's skin could do the trick."

Ryuu considered it, not one or another but a synergy or both would be required to slay the mightiest creatures in Royal Road.

At one point while fighting in the cave, something unexpected happened. Ryuu was fighting three kobolds in a larger group, two were holding Ryuu back while the other was muttering something. From behind, the knight shouted to him, "Shaman! Get back!"

Three balls of fire shot from the end of the kobold's staff. Ryuu moved his arms to guard, but at the impact of the first, it detonated and blew them away. The next two struck his body and again, detonated.

_You have been dealt 564 damage._  
_You have been dealt 601 damage._  
_You have dealt 631 damage._  
_You are on fire,health will slowly decline._  
_You have been stunned._

Three-fourths of his health disappeared in a second flat, and it was still disappearing. The impact shook his body so badly he couldn't move it.

The knight charged over the other kobolds and slashed the shaman, when the priest realized Ryuu was still alive he cast healing hand.

After the fight, Telkin said, "I can't believe you're still alive. Crap, dap, damn, I'm sorry. I foto tell you about the shamans. They're really uncommon here, but against low level guys magic can spell the end. How much health do you have?!"

Although he was a little shaken at exploding, his nerves were fine, and he calmly answered, ugh he was a little shaken at exploding, he recovered fine, and he calmly answered, "Not enough to survive a fourth fireball. Do they always explode like that?"

"No, that was probably fire bomb. A regular fire ball spell just causes fire damage without the impact. I'm sure you already figured this out, but strong impacts can stun you in this game"

Ryuu brushed the soot off his arms and checked out his gi. He thought it would be in cinders but it was burning and the gi had high resistance to damaging effects. He had never been on fire before and doubted it would hurt so little in real life. The damage and pain was a burning and stinging sensation, but martial artist is no stranger to pain so it was in Royal Roads it was just background noise to him.

"So. That's magic." This was his first encounter with magic in Royal Road, and it made an impression.

The party continued on for another seven days in the cave. Ryuu had no day job other than overseeing the training of his students and his days as a student at school were long behind him. The others in the party were not so fortunate. A majority of the time, Ryuu fought alone in the cave or with one or two of the whole party. It didn't long for his level to rise above the others to the point it was no longer worth sharing experience as a party. Telkin and the others understood, they had also grown strong enough to train without his protection, so there were no hard feelings.

Since it seemed to Telkin like Ryuu would do it anyways, before they parted Telkin told him about the monthly party that went to fight the Kobold King.

Ryuu was tempted to take on the kobold king alone, but his level was just 34, and from what Telkin said, the boss room was know to have two kobold generals and at least six kobold shamans. Even Ryuu recognized a suicide mission when he saw one.

Ryuu opened his stat and skill menu to see how much progress he had made since leaving the city.

_Status Window |Exit_  
_Avatar Ryuu |Alignment Neutral_  
_Title None_  
_Level 34 |Class None_  
_Fame 37| Infamy None_  
_Health 3350| Ki 410_  
_Strength 115| Agility 148_  
_Wisdom 10 |Intellect 10_  
_Leadership 0 |Luck 0_  
_Vitality 101 |Endurance 85_  
_Affinity to Nature 12 |Fighting Spirit 19_  
_Attack 47| Defense 7_  
_Magic Resistances- Gravity 14%_

_Skill Window_  
_Ki Circulation [9] 19%_  
_Move ki throughout the body to increase health._  
_Health and stamina regeneration increased by 90% during circulation_  
_+5% STR, AGI, and VIT for 20min after performing Ki Circulation._  
_Requires Ki_  
_Ki Strike [4] 37%_  
_Moves ki to the extremities and bursting it at the moment of impact._  
_Attacking with Ki increases attack and adds non-physical Damage. _  
_Cost: 17 Ki_  
_Natural Ki absorption [3] 40%_  
_A skill that takes ki produced by the natural world into the body._  
_The strength of the ki taken in is determined by Affinity to Nature._  
_Ki regeneration increased by 30%_  
_Unarmed Combat Mastery [6] 87%_  
_Increases attack and attack speed when fighting without weapons. _  
_+60% ATK, +30% ATK SPD When fighting unarmed._  
_Disarm [4] 55%_  
_Removes your opponent's weapon and forces them to fight you bare-handed._  
_Chance to disarm _  
_(12+ (Your STR -Opponent's STR)/10)%_

When he looked through his skills, it became obvious that the skill 'Unarmed Combat Mastery' had more of an affect on his damage than anything. In video games those who attacked without weapons did only a fraction of the damage of those equipped with weapons. The only way to make up the difference was through skills that increased attack power. However, every physical combatant could obtain a mastery skill for their weapon of choice so the bonus was not his alone. He advantage the training bonus stats gave him would not last long, if he wanted to overcome the weapon and magic users, he would have to raise that skill as high as he could, as fast as he could.

The boss raid party would form in a week, until then, he would stay in the deeper parts of the kobold cave and do all he could to increase his combat mastery skill.


	5. Chapter 5 Victory and Defeat

Dragon's Road

Chapter 5

Victory and Defeat in Royal Road

According to what he learned, members who wished to take part in the boss raid party had to meet up in front of the dungeon on the morning of the first of every month, (within Royal Road.)

Ryuu and about twenty others had gathered at the entrance to the kobold cave. Most seemed to be swordsmen, but there were a few mages and priests as well.

A swordsmen in very fancy outfit spoke to the whole group, "Listen up. My name is Willow. I'm level 68, my leadership stat is 55, and my charisma stat is 35. For those of you who don't know, that means people in a party I'm the leader of will receive bonuses to their Will, and are less likely to fail in skill and spell activation."

Ryuu learned from an acquaintance that sometimes skills of a low proficiency failed to activate, something that would leave you stunned for a moment. It had never happened to him with Ki Strike, but he'd seen it happen to others.

The swordsman continued, "If anyone here has a higher leadership or charisma stat speak up now."

No one did.

"Very well. I will be the leader of the raid party for the boss. Experience in a party is only shared if the players are within 30 levels, so anyone level 37 or below, will not join. This is my third time leading a raid for this boss, and It will be my last. All those who wish to join my raid party, step forth."

Everyone did, even Ryuu after a moment. Willow went to each person and asked them for their class and level before asking if they wanted to join the raid party.

When he came up to Ryuu, he said, "Monk huh. What's your level and unarmed combat proficiency?"

"Level 44, and beginner level 9." Ryuu had been mistaken for a monk constantly since he wore a gi and had no weapon. He did not complain though, no one wants a class-less, weapon-less, fist fighter. If someone did ask for his class, he would tell the truth. Lying pollutes ki, though he doubted Royal Road had such a feature, he would not go against the way of the martial artist.

Willow seemed impressed by the proficiency level, Ryuu didn't know how his stacked up to other classes, but willow knew that it usually doesn't reach intermediate until after one reaches level 100. Willow's own sword mastery was only at beginner level 8, which meant Ryuu had punch more than Willow had slashed.

Willow said, "Alright, you wanna join my party?"

_You have been invited to join Willow's raid party._  
_Accept?_  
_Yes | No_

"Sure."

_You have joined Willow's raid party._

Willow said, "Alright, I'm putting you in charge of the right general. Two swordsman, a mage, and a priest will be under you."

After forming the party and assigning groups, he addressed everyone. "Now I know a lot of you have fought many kobolds in this cave already, but this battle will be different. The kobold king makes all kobolds around it stronger, the kobold general makes all kobolds around it stronger, and gentlemen, these effects stack. The king will be strengthened by the two generals, the generals will be strengthened by the king and their opposite number, and every single kobold in there will be strengthened by all three of them. Do not underestimate them, and those of you assigned to kill the generals, do it as quickly as you can."

Willow lead the group into the dungeon. Ryuu and the group he was assigned followed behind Willow's group.

The boss's cavern had high ceilings and was large enough to fit a dojo. On a large stone chair was a muscular kobold at least 3 meters tall with a red name above it, Gyū Maō. Around him were two generals, half a dozen shamans, and about thirty regulars.

Willow shouted, "Attack!"

Ryuu ran to the general on the right. It had a large bronze greataxe just like the other one. It was however, at least twice as fast. Doubling in speed though was not something only the monster could do, Ryuu was even faster. He dodged the axe swing and disarmed the general. The skill, Disarm, had a higher success rate the greater the difference in strength.

The mage who went to the general's side started casting. One of the swordsmen went to the mages side to protect him, while the other stayed at the priest's side. These were likely the roles Willow assigned them in the party. The whole of the party did their roles and it seemed to be going well.

"You idiots!"

The other groups were not as disciplined. Ryuu had no idea how it started, but he bet some group assigned to attack the mobs went for the king instead. This likely started a cascade effect, which caused others to abandon their roles to fight the king. No one was attacking the other general and the groups assigned to hold off the shamans were having a free for all with the kobold king. Willow was yelling at them to fight their assigned targets, but they didn't care., it seemed his stats weren't high enough for it to matter.

In a raid party, half of the experience for all kills are distributed equally, while the other half goes solely to the person who made the kill.

Conscripts were dying one after another from the king's blows so the outcome was obvious. Ryuu decided to change things up a bit. He distracted the general long enough for the mage to cast Ice Shard, causing a meter long shard of ice to shoot at the general's side. It shattered on impact causing a lot of damage and changing the color of the skin to light blue, a sign the general's movements had been slowed by the cold ice.

At the general's next punch, Ryuu caught it and threw the arm over his shoulder, and the general along with it.

The free for all between the conscripts, the other general, the king, the shamans, and the other thirty kobolds was interrupted when the kobold general fell into the middle of it. Ryuu ran with all his might at the wall next to him, going up ten steps before pushing off and using the height to deliver a ki powered dive bomb axe kick to the fallen general's head.

_You have leveled up!_

With a loud crunch, the general's helmet, and the head it contained disappeared from this world. Ryuu, whose actions silenced the whole battle, became the center of attention. Ryuu gave the conscripts the look he gives to undisciplined students who think they know better than their masters.

"I'll take care of the other general, Willow and his group will take the attention of the king. You will kill all the shamans and regulars, and only when you have finished, will you assist Willow in taking the king. Understood?"

The men nodded quickly. A smirk appeared on Willow's face.

The kobolds who were still in shock from the display recovered and tried to attack Ryuu, but they were mobbed by the dozen or so remaining raid party members.

_Leadership rises by 1 (+1 LEA)_

Having his orders obeyed increased his stat to give orders it seemed. Willow and his group kept the king busy, which left the remaining general to Ryuu. It sneered at him and his declaration. The red name, Oolong, shined above its head.

Oolong took the spiked wooden bludgeon from his side and swung it at Ryuu. He jumped to avoid the blow, but the small kobold next to hit was sent to the wall like a home run ball. Ryuu ran to its open side but the general jumped back. The club had a longer range than Ryuu's punches, so by keeping distance it could attack without worry.

A long shard of ice struck the general's arm. Ryuu's assigned team was still with him. One of the swordsman struck the kobold's back, and ducked the blow from its spinning club attack. Ryuu figured that for whatever reason, Willow put the competent ones In the same group.

One of the shaman spells struck one of the group fighting the kobold king, killing the fighter. Using the opening, the massive brute plowed through straight to Ryuu. It seemed it was pissed, and wanted to help the general double team him. This wouldn't have been a problem, but Ryuu was too close to his group's mage. If he moved too far, their attention would surely turn to the mage.

The mage understood the situation too late, he started running towards the swordsmen for protection, but the bosses moved too fast, Ryuu had to take their attention or he would die.

Ryuu jumped to the king's gut and used it as a springboard to send a ki powered flying knee to the general's gut. He figured he would stun the king long enough to avoid the slash of the king's machete, but that was too naive. Rather than take a long time to slash, the king sent a strong punch with the other arm that slammed Ryuu to the far wall.

_You have been dealt 1310 damage._  
_You have received 602 damage from impact._  
_New Stat: Perseverance_

His body ached in a dozen places but he was still alive. Ryuu saw as he got up that his swordsmen had double stabbed the general using the opening Ryuu's attack gave them, killing it. Ryuu got back up and sprinted to the king.

The kobold king had either the option of fighting the large group of Willow's fighters or fighting the lone Ryuu. It charged forward to attack.

Ryuu twisted his body to punch, but as he got within range, he slid on the ground between the king's feet just as it slashed. Ryuu used a spinning elbow to strike the creature's spine, causing it to falter. By then the others had caught up to it and the king was swarmed by a dozen players.

Ryuu's priest cast healing hand on him twice, and went back to healing those who were struck by the king. Ryuu himself threw himself into the battle with the remaining shamans and regulars, killing the last just as the king himself fell.

Willow came up to Ryuu and said, "Catch," before throwing a ring to him. "You're lucky it was hectic here. That was dropped by the first general you killed, if anyone else here noticed and picked it up, you never would've known."

"Thanks, but I enjoyed the fight so it didn't matter." Ryuu put the ring in his inventory and left the cave. After a quick stop back to the city to sell the loot he had accumulated, he would go to Kabbot Cave.

Ryuu examined the ring on the way to the city. From his inventory screen was shown the item's information.

_Ring of the General_  
_Durability 35/35_  
_Defense 2_

_A ring once worn by a kobold general._  
_Additional Unknown._

Unknown meant it had effects that must be made visible. Wearing it would give the effect, but without knowing what it is, that could be dangerous. On the thought of unknown effect, Ryuu remembered the stat he had gained when he was slammed against the wall and said, "Show stat Perseverance."

_Perseverance_  
_The ability to withstand hardships. Decreases the amount of physical damage taken. _  
_You may distribute points to this stat, but it will increase automatically when strong blows are taken and survived._

So it reduced the damage the body took and the stat increased when the body was damaged. If Ryuu had known such a stat existed, he would not have spent so much time dodging every attack.

Ryuu sold the bronze swords and daggers he had stored up to a vendor and left the city. Kabbot cave had Vexing Pixies he needed to slay, and after fighting the general and king, he was sure the level 80 pixies would pose no threat.

At the entrance to Kabbot cave, as was normal for most dungeons it seemed, was a group of people forming parties.

One of the rangers saw him and said, "Hey, wanna join our party?"

Ryuu walked up to him and said, "No thanks, I'm here on a slayer quest and want to complete it on my own."

The ranger nodded and said, "Yeah, plenty of quests to kill hobgoblins out there."

"Hobgoblins? No, I'm here to kill Vexing Pixies."

"Pixies? There are no Pixies in Kabbot Cave."

One of the others, a female mage said, "Actually Luke, I saw one a few weeks ago. It giggled at me and ran off. Pixies are a low chance encounter mob. Like maybe two or three fly around the whole dungeon."

The ranger lifted his eyebrow and turned back to Ryuu. "What's the rank of this slayer quest?"

"D"

"D?! Have you ever taken a D rank quest before?"

"No," Ryuu answered, "I've taken a few F rank though."

The ranger shook his head. "A D rank quest is between 10 and 100 times harder than an F rank quest. Good luck man, you're gonna need it."

Ryuu entered the dungeon, another cave like maze, though the tunnels of this one were larger to accommodate larger mobs. He encountered a group of three hobgoblins. Humanoid armor wearing monsters with large mouths and green skin. Each had a spear, so Ryuu got up close and pummeled their pointed noses in. Hobgoblins it seemed were about level 60, the same level as a the kobold king. But obviously as they were jot boss class monsters or named mobs, they were much weaker.

After half a day of fighting hobgoblins, Ryuu saw a small flying thing at the end of a hall. He ran to follow it. The pixie flew a little slower than Ryuu ran, eventually he caught up with and tried to punch it. The pixie was only a little larger than Ryuu's fist and dodged easily. It suddenly turned around and started glowing. Ryuu tried attacking a few more times but the floating mob moved like a fly. Eventually the pixie's glow changed from white to purple and it shouted in a high pitched voice at Ryuu. A purple light covered him, and it made his skin feel tight.

_You have been slowed_  
_Movement speed reduced by 50%_

After that the pixie did something Ryuu didn't expect, it screamed its little lungs out.

Less than ten seconds later, the pixie was still hovering in front of Ryuu who was trying to catch it with slowed movement, and from both ends of the tunnels came groups of hobgoblins.

The pixie giggled as the groups approached and started stabbing Ryuu with their spears. Ryuu had a lot of life but attacks from level 60 monsters within a dungeon against his armor-less body still caused his health to reach zero in only a few seconds.

_You have died._  
_Your skill proficiencies have dropped, and you level has decreased by one. The most recently increased stat shall be reduced by five._  
_Your account has been locked for twentyfour hours._

Richard Smith got up from his capsule. It was a little after three in the afternoon. He thought he had trained up enough to complete the monk quest, but it seemed the guild master was more mischievous than that. Pixies that used hindering magic and called for reinforcements were not something a classless person could deal with. Especially considering how hard they were to find and hit without a weapon.

Smith thought about all the different ways to do it and wondered what monk classes matched up to what ways to complete the quest.

In a room in the far end of the temple of the mind and body was a computer lab with twelve computers for the students to use. As long as they didn't abuse the privilege it was never a problem. The students who lived on site could use them to stay in touch with friends and family from across the world.

Richard logged onto a computer and went to the Temple's internet site. Smith had one of his computer savvy students take segments of video from his capsule's recording of his game experience and post the video onto the temple's site. Right now he had two videos, his test of the beginner training hall and his fight in the kobold occupied fort. Now he was using his capsule's wireless interface to examine and cut out his battle with the kobold king and general. He set the video in a file that his student could access, edit, and put on the site. The videos that were already on the site had a few views, but those were mostly from people from his own temple.

Richard's plan when he started playing Royal Road was to make videos of himself fighting using Xiao Xiang kung fu and use that to make his school more renown. However people didn't look for videos of martial arts on specific websites, and videos of Royal Road were watched on web pages for videos of Royal Road. The only real way he could use his videos to spread the name of his temple was to either pay other sites to advertise his site or get his videos on a popular Royal Road video site. The most popular of which was the Hall of Fame, where the most famous players posted their videos. There was no information on the process the Hall of Fame used to select players to submit videos, but Smith figured one just had to become famous. That was his goal for now.

Smith went to the dojo to check on the students. The instructors and disciples gave a short bow when he passed, something he still wasn't use to. He saw to it that each student was taught effectively. One of the more unique points of the 'Formless Style' was that students were not taught everything, only what would make them the best they could be. Usually this included forms that made use of one's strengths, forms that covered one's weaknesses, and special forms that combined whatever the student used to make their own style personal. However, more than two thirds of the students at the temple were training to be teachers. Where a student was only made to learn the style that best fit them, a teacher had to know every form and technique, know how to tell which students should learn which forms, and of course learn the best way to teach them all. When the teacher graduated they either stayed on to teach students and continue learning until they could teach others to be teachers, or they went off to start their own Xiao Xiang kung fu dojo.

One of his students that knew he played Royal Road walked up to Smith and said, "Master, you're out early."

Smith smiled and said, "Yes, I died."

"What? Who or what could defeat master?"

"Magic it seems. The game is most interesting."

The next afternoon, Smith logged back into Royal Road.

He found himself back in the city, the last safe point his character visited before dying. He opened up his skill window to see how much damage his death had done to his skill progression

_Skill Window_  
_Ki Circulation [9] 59%_  
_Move ki throughout the body to increase health._  
_Health and stamina regeneration increased by 90% during circulation_  
_+5% STR, AGI, and VIT for 20min after performing Ki Circulation._  
_Requires Ki_  
_Ki Strike [6] 12%_  
_Moves ki to the extremities and bursting it at the moment of impact._  
_Attacking with Ki increases attack and adds non-physical Damage. _  
_Cost: 15 Ki_  
_Natural Ki absorption [5] 41%_  
_A skill that takes ki produced by the natural world into the body._  
_The strength of the ki taken in is determined by Affinity to Nature._  
_Ki regeneration increased by 50%_  
_Unarmed Combat Mastery [9] 82%_  
_Increases attack and attack speed when fighting without weapons. _  
_+90% ATK, +45% ATK SPD When fighting unarmed._  
_Disarm [6] 8%_  
_Removes your opponent's weapon and forces them to fight you bare-handed._  
_Chance to disarm _  
_(18+ (Your STR -Opponent's STR)/10)%_

It was as bad as he thought. His combat mastery that was so close to reaching intermediate dropped by 14%. Ki circulation, also almost intermediate dropped by 13%. Ki strike dropped by 10% and the other two dropped by 7%.

Ryuu decided to avoid the Pixies for now and use the level 60 hobgoblins to increase his level and get his combat mastery and Ki circulation to intermediate. Since he needed to lose either health or stamina to use it, and getting hit Increased his perseverance stat, he could train that skill and stat together.

Back at the Kabbot cave, Ryuu fought for 15 hours and finally received the message he wanted.

_Skill level up: Unarmed Combat mastery has reached level 10, and now changes to intermediate level 1. _  
_+50% additional attack bonus when fighting unarmed._  
_+ 5 All stats._

The skill reaching level 10 increased his attack by 100% on its own. A bonus was added on top of that so the skill now gave a 150% bonus to his attack and 50% to his attack speed. The skill was very overpowered.

The results were clearly evident, hobgoblins took eight or nine clean blows to fell now took five or six, and that was without Ki Strike Ryuu's training pace rose.

The next day while training Ryuu saw a pixie fly by. He turned to retreat but stopped when he heard it giggle. He turned back and saw it glowing with white light again. Ryuu ran and the pixie followed. Eventually Ryuu encountered a group of three hobgoblins. While trying to pass through them, he saw the light of a purple glow that came from behind him.

_You have been slowed_  
_Movement speed reduced by 50%_

The hobgoblins were unaffected it seemed. The pixie shouted again, alerting all the nearby creatures. The goblin spears were too many and Ryuu slowed could not dodge more than one at a time. His health slowly whittled away with him only killing one hobgoblin before eight more showed up and overwhelmed his defenses.

_You have died._  
_Your skill proficiencies have dropped, and you level has decreased by one. The most recently increased stat shall be reduced by five._  
_Your account has been locked for twentyfour hours._

Again, he thought, getting out of the capsule. The guild master said to his face this was a quest he was not strong enough to pass, so what he did to pass would determine the kind of monk he should be. Richard Smith thought of a few ways to complete the quest, and wondered which one best fit him.


	6. Chapter 6 The Class with One Skill

Dragon's Road

Chapter 6

The Class with One Skill

Ryuu found a secluded corner of Kabbot cave to sit and circulate his ki. Dying twice reduced the skills proficiency, but his new training regimen increased the pace his skill improved. Since discovering the Perseverance stat Ryuu would purposely take powerful hits unguarded, lowering his health to a minimum before finishing his opponents. Losing so much life so often meant he had more opportunities to use Ki circulation to recover it.

While meditating Ryuu's mind would wander to how he could defeat 50 pixies. The simplest way was to remove the Atlas rings of restraint when he saw a pixie. Without them weighing his body down, catching a pixie in flight would be too simple. But keeping the rings on was self imposed training. If he could not complete a task without taking them off, then he would have to get stronger. Besides, keeping them on occasionally caused him to receive a message saying his resistance to gravity magic had increased. Taking them off reset the amount of time it took to receive the next resistance bonus so he wouldn't do it. The rings did have some benefits. His axe and drop kicks did massively more damage than they should. It was thanks to that he practically one hit killed a kobold general.

After recovering Ryuu went to another hobgoblin spawn point. Finding a pixie was very rare in the cave, as long as he didn't go looking for it, he wasn't likely to meet it. Ryuu had in fact seen another pixie, but it didn't care about him. The first pixie he tried to hit was the only one that attacked him on sight, other than the possibility of running that one in a dungeon with the floor space of a four story building was low as long as he didn't wander around too much.

The spear wielding hobgoblins were easy to take down after Ryuu used disarm to remove or break their weapons. Without them the mobs had to resort to fist fighting, and their skill was lower than Ryuu's weakest student in the real world. Every once in a while a bastard sword wielding Hobgoblin Captain would spawn, and Ryuu would let him get some good hits in before killing it to raise his perseverance stat. The spawning of Captains was the reason he chose this spot to train.

Two days after his second death, Ryuu was circulating his Ki, and a message showed up.

Ding*

_Skill level up: Ki circulation has reached level 10, and now changes to intermediate level 1._  
_+50% to Health and Stamina regeneration while using Ki Circulation._  
_You can now circulate you Ki outside the body as a skill._  
_You have learned a New Skill: Aura_  
_+ 5 All stats._

"Aura? In this game?" Ryuu continued, "Show skill Aura."

_Aura [1] 0%_  
_Move ki over the body to increase resistance against non physical damage._  
_Areas covered in Aura deal greater damage when using Ki Strike at increased Ki cost._  
_Ki cost: 40 per minute for small areas_  
_100 per minute for whole body_

The skill Ki circulation didn't use up Ki points because the Ki never left the body, but if it was moved outside the body, it would slowly dissipate.

Ryuu wanted to try it out. He imagined the energy of his body flowing out of his right hand, over his arm, and returning into his body through his shoulder. The effect was obvious, his whole arm was suddenly covered in flowing light, and the number below his Ki bar slowly declined. At level 52, his Ki was 780. The stats Vitality and Strength had the largest effects on increasing his Ki, so he increased those the most while leveling up, thus increasing his health and attack as well. And if the skill was anything like Ki strike, then it would decrease in Ki cost as he got better at using it.

Ryuu waited at the spawn point for the next wave of hobgoblins. When they appeared, He wrapped his body in aura and used Ki strike with every attack. His level 7 Ki strike which usually decreased his Ki bar by 14 with each use now decreased it by 21 with each use, 50% more. But the effects were clear. Without Ki strike a hobgoblin took five or six hits to fell, with it they took three or four. With Ki strike empowered by his aura, not one took more than two hits to kill. A wave of Hobgoblins consisted of between six and nine members, Ryuu finished off the whole group in under twenty seconds.

The strength of Hobgoblins were they coordination, high attack, and their skilled use of spears in the confined space of the cave tunnels. Even with health far beyond his level, without armor their spears took only four or five strikes to kill him. Before when he fought them he had to devote most of his effort to dodging while dealing the necessary hits to kill them, but with the ability to kill each in two strikes that time was no longer needed, after dodging the initial attack he could kill one after another.

Ryuu felt satisfied, as he always when he saw the fruit his training bore. He didn't need weapons, with his heightened stats, Ki strike and Aura his attack was greater than any sword warrior of the same level.

Ryuu trained his aura skill for two days getting it to level 5, reducing the Ki cost of full body aura to 90 per minute. A side effect of which was that he increased his Natural Ki Absorption skill to level 8, the skill leveled up slowly but even with his lack of Affinity to Nature, but with each level his Ki recovered a little faster.

When he felt he was ready, he wandered through the cave looking for the pixie. After a few hours he heard the tale-tail giggling. The pixie spotted him and right away it started glowing, meaning it was the same one he once attacked. Ryuu charged forward and started attacking, he had increased his agility stat some since the last encounter, and the effect showed. The pixie was no longer dodging with ease, it had to back up constantly to avoid Ryuu's strikes. Ryuu lead it to a wall but the pixie simply turned. Overall it took just a little over five seconds before the pixie's glow changed to purple. Ryuu ran as fast as he could towards it, but instead of attacking, he stepped up the wall and jumped off. The pixie fell for the faint and released its charged up spell, but in the time between releasing the charge and the spell itself going into effect, Ryuu had put two and a half meters between himself and the pixie.

_You have been slowed._  
_Movement speed reduced by 22%_

Ryuu remembered the that previous two times the pixie waited until it was right next to him to release the charge on its spell, he figured the further away he was, the better. That and he had full body Aura on, though he didn't know how much if any that affected the reduction.

Ryuu readied himself. The pixie let out a scream and Ryuu rushed. From a proper stance, he could cover the distance between them in an instant, and the pixie didn't move when it cried out.

Even slowed, Ryuu was able to strike the pixie with a leaping ki punch. The pixie bounced off the wall from the impact and died instantly.

_You have gained a level!_  
_Quest Progression: Vexing Pixies Slain 1/50_

His experience bar which had been at 81% jumped to 12% on the next level. Pixies were rare, killing them was very tricky, and they gave as much experience as a mini-boss.

"Forty-nine to go."

The hobgoblins came a moment later. Ryuu took another stance and let them approach. He leaped to the closest one and stuck it with enough force to blow it back into the others. He switched to a form that used slower, fiercer movements to knock back the mobs. With his strengthen blows he killed them off one at a time so he would not have to devote so much effort to dodging the attacks of so many. With his deadly blows and adjusted style he finished off the lot in twenty seconds. Ten seconds later, the slow status lifted.

Ryuu spent the next few days killing every hobgoblin he came across. When Ki strike reached level 8, even Hobgoblin Captains fell in two Aura strengthened ki empowered kicks. However a week had passed before Ryuu found another pixie. He managed to kill it before it did anything, gaining another massive load of experience, but the one he found the next day was not so simple.

Ryuu found the pixie traveling with a group of hobgoblins. Ryuu attacked the group and the pixie started charging its spell, but when fully charged, its color changed to red, not purple. Ryuu had his full body aura activated of course and jumped back, but the spell the Pixie cast was different. With a bright red glow a red sphere shot out from the pixie and sought Ryuu. He blocked with his aura coated arms and the ball turned to fire and slowly tried to cover him.

_You are on fire._  
_Your health slowly decreases._

The fire and his aura seemed to fight each other on his arms, but eventually his aura won out, putting out the flame. Ryuu kicked a hobgoblin to the wall next to the pixie to distract it while moving closer to deal a final blow.

Over the next few in game months, Ryuu scoured the dungeon for pixies. He found that each could only cast one spell, but from what he heard from others and learned for himself, they cast that spell at a proficiency that far exceeded their level. Every pixie cast a spell that caused a status effect; slow, burn, paralysis, blindness, silence, confusion, and even gravity. The only problematic one was the pixies that glowed yellow before an attack. The paralysis spell lasted between four and thirteen seconds depending on how close you were when the spell activated. Ryuu never wanted to find out how long it would affect him if he was caught without his aura. The other pixies could be dealt with using the right style and strategy. The confusion spell affected him like alcohol, but he knew a bit of drunken boxing so that was actually fun for him. The blindness was tricky at first, but the hobgoblins always stayed in the same formation, so after letting himself get attacked once, he knew where they all were and could act accordingly until the blindness wore off or he killed the rest. The pixies that cast silence were easy prey, as none of his skills were spells. The gravity pixies that glowed black before casting did almost nothing. The spells only increased his weight by 30%, which amounted to 25% due to his gravity resistance, but he couldn't even feel the difference while wearing the Atlas rings.

The only real problem with the pixies was that they could recast their status spells by the time the previous spell wore off, something that was especially irritating against the blindness casting pixies. Once, Ryuu cornered a gravity caster and saw how many times it could cast over and over again. He gave up counting after the tenth time and killed it. Although they were physically weak with little life, the pixies were dangerous without a doubt.

Through experimentation he found that his aura did indeed reduce magic based status effects. Thanks to that the full impact of the over powered spells was reduced to the point he could reliably kill the pixies regardless of which he encountered.

_Quest Complete: Pixie Slayer_  
_50/50_  
_You have gained a level!_  
_You have gained a level!_  
_Return to the monk guild for your class._

After three and a half months in game, Ryuu completed the quest, and walked out of Kabbot cave at level 84. Had he changed his location to some place with stronger mobs, he could have gotten much stronger, but he did not worry. He spent the time increasing his unarmed combat mastery, the skill was now at intermediate level 3, likely far higher than the mastery of anyone of the same level. And if the aptitude test was accurate, than his reward would be a fine class.

When Ryuu walked into the city, he attracted quite a few stares. His Gi had long since lost durability forcing him to unequip it, his beginner shoes had been dropped and lost the second time he died, as equipped items sometimes did when one died. (He was thankful the rings had not dropped.) So barefoot and shirtless he walked into the city. Not that he was bashful, the capsule's scan of his body was fairly accurate, down to the ridge pattern the muscles of his abdomen made, and he had no problem walking around without a shirt.

Ryuu entered the monk's guild wearing only tattered pants and said, "I wish to see Master Korth."

The guild master came a moment later. "Oh ho. So you completed the quest. Excellent. Show me your stats and skill windows, so I can see how you did it."

Ryuu said, "Show Stats and skill windows."

_Status Window Exit_  
_Avatar Ryuu | Alignment Neutral_  
_Title None_  
_Level 84 | Class None_  
_Fame 37 | Infamy None_  
_Health 4250 | Ki 710_  
_Strength 209 |Agility 241_  
_Wisdom 20 | Intellect 20_  
_Leadership 11 | Luck 10_  
_Vitality 181 | Endurance 95_  
_Affinity to Nature 25 | Fighting Spirit 76_  
_Perseverance 43_  
_Attack 155 |Defense 38_  
_Magic Resistances- Gravity 18%_

_Skill Window_

_Intermediate Ki Circulation [3] 40%_  
_Move ki throughout the body to increase health._  
_Health and stamina regeneration increased by 90% during circulation_  
_+7% STR, AGI, and VIT for 36min after performing Ki Circulation._  
_Requires Ki_  
_Ki Strike [9] 4%_  
_Moving ki to the extremities and bursting it at the moment of impact._  
_Attacking with Ki increases attack and adds non-physical Damage. _  
_Cost: 12 Ki_  
_Natural Ki absorption [9] 55%_  
_A skill that takes ki produced by the natural world into the body._  
_The strength of the ki taken in is determined by Affinity to Nature._  
_Ki regeneration increased by 100%_  
_Intermediate Unarmed Combat Mastery [3] 29%_  
_Increases attack and attack speed when fighting without weapons. _  
_+189% ATK, +71% ATK SPD When fighting unarmed._  
_Intermediate Disarm [6] 64%_  
_Removes your opponent's weapon and forces them to fight you bare-handed._  
_Chance to disarm _  
_(42+ [(Your STR -3/4th's Opponent's STR)/10])%_  
_Aura [7] 0%_  
_Move ki over the body to increase resistance against non physical damage._  
_Areas covered in Aura deal greater damage when using Ki Strike at increased Ki cost._  
_Ki cost: 33 per minute for small areas_  
_76 per minute for whole body_

The master looked over the window carefully, silently staring at it. He did so for several minutes. A few other monks peered at it as well, their faces beyond astounded.

Master Korth spoke up, "This is... Interesting. Most people gather a party to help them face a trial above their abilities. Some use items, others, deceptive means. And their are of course those who train until they have achieved a strength great enough to overcome the trial. For each of these there is a different monk class, but you fall into none of them. Aura is a skill most monks do not learn until they have advanced at level 200, but you have learned it on your own and used it to overcome the odds. Yes, I never would have guessed it, not in a million years, but you have the qualifications of a very special monk class, one that has not been seen for decades. Come with me."

Ryuu followed the master into a room where the old man lifted up a floor panel that had stone stairs leading down. He entered the secret room and Ryuu followed.

The old master continued, "Most monks spend their first years learning the proper way to fight. They acquire skills and techniques that they train and hone until they become strong. After that they can specialize, but that just means getting a class that no longer teaches all purpose skills and focuses on specific strengths." He looked back at Ryuu and said, "It was obvious during our spar you didn't need the beginner skills so I decided you could skip it and it wouldn't hurt you like it would others."

The master's words made clear what he said before. He said that giving the advanced class to some could make them weaker, this was because they would not gain the beginner combat skills of a basic monk that most used to build a foundation off. But Ryuu did not need any such skills. The first time he came to the guild he already had Ki strike, and so far that was all he needed.

"The class I would like to give you is not an advanced monk class, one that others would have the chance to obtain at level 200. The class I think you have the best fit with is a secret monk class that specializes in Auras. Though this class can learn monks skills, it will not do so automatically as other monk classes do. So if you decide to take it, any skills you wish to learn must be taught to you by another or learned manually by meeting the prerequisite level requirements for other skills. In fact, the class only gives a single skill when you switch to it, and does not give any other."

"What skill?" Ryuu asked.

"What indeed. Tell me, which do you think is strongest in the land of Versailles, might, or magic?"

The question caught Ryuu off guard, but it was something he had thought about for some time. "They are equal, the only difference is the effort put into training."  
Ryuu remembered the details of the mage equivalent of combat mastery, elemental affinity. The existence of a skill that increased the damage of a specific element proved that the potential for mages and fighters were likely equal in the game.

The monk nodded, "I think so as well, so young one, what is the strongest if not might or magic?"

He didn't even have to think, "A fusion of the two."

Korth smiled. "As I thought, this class is perfect for you."

The pair reached the bottom of the stairs. Ryuu could tell from the floor's size and width this was once a place people fought.

Ryuu had another question on his mind, so he let it out. "Master, what did you mean by manually learning skills by meeting the prerequisite?"

"You learned Aura when Ki circulation reached level 10 right?. That is the manual way of learning Aura, by acquiring the Ki circulation skill and raising it to intermediate. There are several classes that give the skill Aura automatically, so those who have these classes would gain the skill regardless of whether or not they have the Ki circulation skill."

So if he took the class, it would make almost no difference to what he had been doing up to now. The chances were good that by raising the proficiency of the skills he had, other skills would be generated, so it was no great loss should he accept.

The master lead Ryuu to a door with a large lock on it. He took out a key to open it, and within the small room within was a glowing sphere that changed color over and over again like a swirling rainbow. He said, "Activate your aura and touch that."

Ryuu did so. When he touched it, his aura started reacting. Its color that had been misty white started shifting like the orb he was touching.

_You have discovered a Hidden Class! If you accept it, you will gain an exclusive Aura skill._  
_Note* If you ever change classes, this skill will be lost._  
_Do you want to convert now?_  
_Yes|No_

Ryuu didn't have all the answers but from the way Korth talked, this class was perfect for him. He didn't tell him everything, but sometimes a leap of faith was required.

"Yes."

The rainbow light enveloped his aura, changing its color to every hue Ryuu had ever seen, and even more than he had not.

_You have learned a new skill: Aurora_

When it died down, his aura went back to white, and Ryuu opened his stats menu again.

_Status Window |Exit_  
_Avatar Ryuu |Alignment Neutral_  
_Title None_  
_Level 84 Class |Aurora Monk_  
_Fame 37 |Infamy None_  
_Health 5650 |Ki 1120_  
_Strength 209+20 |Agility 241+20_  
_Wisdom 20+20 |Intellect 20+20_  
_Leadership 11+20 |Luck 10+20_  
_Vitality 181+20 |Endurance 95+20_  
_Affinity to Nature 25+20 |Fighting Spirit 76+20_  
_Perseverance 43+20_  
_Attack 189 |Defense 46_  
_Magic Resistances- Gravity 18%_  
_All stats +20_  
_Increases Defense power of the skill Aura_  
_Aura based skills can be used at Half Ki cost_  
_+50% Attack when fighting unarmed_  
_Enables you to equip specialized items for your class_  
_Enables you to learn all Ki skills to the stage of Master_

"Aurora monk huh." His stats as a classless rookie and as a monk were very different. For one, Health, Mana, Attack, and Ki were affected by class, so choosing a class specialized in one increased the efficiency stats raised it. Even without the (very nice) +20 to all his stats, his Health and Ki would have risen regardless by switching to a combat class, but the rise was impressive nonetheless.

Next he said, "Open skill window Aurora."

_Aurora [1] 0%_  
_Use emotion to change the color of your aura to add elemental damage and resistance._  
_Available Colors_  
_None_

Ryuu asked aloud, "What is this?"

Korth answered, "That my young monk is a skill that a certain master spent decades perfecting. A way to fuse might and magic using aura. If, for example you changed the color of your aura to yellow, it would have lightning properties. It would provide greater protection from lightning magic than your normal aura would, and if you use Ki strike while covered in yellow aura, you would deal lightning damage."

A secret class indeed. And if using Aura now cost only half of what it used to, Ryuu could get some serious mileage out of such a skill.

"So, what do you think?" Asked the guild master.

"Honestly I do not have words. This is a most impressive class you have given me. I will treasure it." His response was completely genuine. Again he felt the satisfaction that the fruits of his hard work bore. Had he taken off the rings and killed the pixies the easy way, he would not have needed to rely on Aura, thus train it up to the point the master felt he deserved such a special class.

The master smiled. "Good. Now, although you won't gain any other skills from your class, there is one skill I would like you to learn here as a monk of our guild."

"I would be honored."

He nodded and continued, "Come over here," and lead them to another room, this one had many strange markings, some of which seemed to glow lightly. "Ok, you have learned many forms before coming here correct? Please show me a few."

Ryuu had no reason not to, he knew hundreds if not thousands, so showing a few would not hurt. Ryuu performed several of his favorite forms, but after a minute, he received a message.

_You have learned a new skill: Battle forms_  
_Would you like to add this move to Battle forms?_  
_Yes| No_

"And this is?" Ryuu asked.

"Well, not all martial arts moves can become skills, this room was created to turn all of a person's martial arts into a skill. The skill is not very strong, but it can be strengthen like any other skill. The only problem is that you can only add forms to the skill in this room. The reason this room has no lock is because it is one of the most used in the guild, all monks within have used it to turn their personal fighting style into a skill."

Ryuu sighed a bit. It seemed he would not be leaving for a while. He asked, "Can I use it?"

"For as long as you like."

The master was about to leave, but Ryuu remembered one last thing to ask. "Wait, the Aurora skill says I have no colors to use, how do I use it?"

"Oh, that, from what I know, you have to first feel a strong, intense emotion, that will change your aura to that emotion's color. After the first time obtaining a color, you can use it at will with ease without using intense emotion."

"Oh, I see. So what emotions go with what colors?"

"Beats me." And with that, Guild Master Korth left him there.


	7. Chapter 7 The Varhales Tournament

Chapter 7  
The Varhales Tournament

Richard Smith woke up at four in the morning as per his usual routine. He took hour of exercise, followed by a moderate breakfast, followed by form and stance practice. After checking on his students and subordinate instructors, Smith logged onto Royal Road.

It had been two weeks since gaining the class, Aurora Monk, and using his newfound strength he had taken over a dozen 'F' and 'D' rank quests. The unarmed combat attack bonus and aura cost reduction allowed him access to attack combos with high damage, but overall his defense was low even with his stats. The guild gave him a higher level monk gi to replace his worn one, but cloth armor had the lowest defense of all armors.

The class's weakness was due to the lack of the auto-generated monk skills. Ryuu only found out after getting the class that when most characters convert to monk, the skill Monk's Body is generated. The skill grants high physical damage resistance to make up for a monk's inability to wear armor, and at higher levels the skill even grants status and magic resistance. Ryuu could gain the skill manually, but the guild master said doing so required him to constantly get damaged and raise his vitality stat to 300. Since the vitality stat increased health and ki, he had no problem with adding all his level up stats to vitality to reach the goal. At level 88, his vitality was 221.

The other problem with the class was that he had yet to gain access to any color to use the only skill his class gave him. According to the guild master, the emotion to unlock a color had to be specific, pure, and intense. Ryuu tried feeling several intense emotions, but either because it wasn't strong enough, it wasn't natural, or because he was trying the wrong emotions, his aura's color never shifted.

Until he figured out the skill's secret, he did all the quests he could. Most often he chose quests whose givers were too poor to offer a decent reward so no one else would take them. Besides giving experience and increasing familiarity with the NPCs of the city, the quests gave him something to do to pass the time until the end of the month. At the end of each month in the real world, Brent Kingdom's capital city held a tournament within a large colosseum.

Ryuu had just finished a rank F quest to protect a farmer's crop field from monsters overnight, and was on his way back to Varhales. Today was the day of the tournament sign ups and preliminary, those who passed would take place in the main stadium the next day.

He sprinted on the road as usual, he found that giving his all as often as he could would occasionally generate a bonus stat, though the more he got the longer it took to get the next one. The rocks of the gravel road ate away at his feet with each step. Although the guild gave him a new gi for joining, he still needed new shoes. However Ryuu decided it was better to travel barefoot. Every once in a while he would receive a message saying that the toughness of his feet increased and that attacks using his feet increased in damage by 0.2%. It was a tiny amount to be sure, but after a long while it would surely add up.

The line to the tournament sign ups had over 100 people consisting of every type, level, and class. The limit of the Varhales tournament was level 220, anyone below that could enter freely. The tournament itself was split into four brackets, the Under 220, Under 180, Under 140, and Under 100. The higher the bracket, the greater the prize to the champion. As someone below level 100 Ryuu could enter any bracket, but entering a bracket higher than one's level usually guaranteed defeat, so for his first Royal Road Tournament he planned to enter the under 100 bracket.

After a few minutes of waiting, Ryuu witnessed a confrontation between a swordsman standing in front of him and a mage who just signed up.

The mage said, "Oh ho, Colman, good to see you again."

The swordsman responded, "You're entering again? What bracket?"

"Same as last time." He replied

"Aren't you over level for that?" asked the swordsman.

He snickered a bit, "No, I'm only seven levels higher than last month, so I still, barely, can stay in the same bracket. Hope to see you again in the finals. Hehe."

The mage left, and after looking down at the ground for a while, the swordsman got out of line.

Ryuu asked the man next to him in line, "Who're they?"

"Hmm? Oh, Zack and Colman. They fought in the finals of the under 140 last month, and although Colman is a great swordsman, Zack was practically playing with him using magic. It was painful to watch."

When it was Ryuu's turn at the front of the line, he signed his name in the Under 140 bracket.

The man at the table looked over him and gave him a piece of paper and said, "Your preliminary exam will be in two hours in Hall C, read this over before entering."

Ryuu took the page and left. It was a pamphlet of the basic rules for the tournament.

_Varhales city Tournament_  
_Rules_  
_#1 You cannot enter a bracket lower than your level._  
_#2 Equipment you wish to compete in must be registered._  
_#3 Any equipment deemed to provide an unfair advantage is not allowed. If primary weapon or armor provides unfair advantage, replacement equipment of the appropriate level will be provided for the participant._  
_#4 Participants under the effect of an enhancement buff before the start of a match will have any such buff negated._  
_#5 When a participant's health reaches 1/2 of their maximum, the match will pause, and the participant will be given the opportunity to forfeit. If the offer is rejected, the match may go on to the death or until the contestant says "I give up." Standard death penalty applies._  
_#6 The size of the ring is the size of the space available to fight. If a participant takes one step out, even by force, it is a automatically loss._  
_#7 Each round will last no more than 10 minutes. At the end of which, the participant with the highest percentage of health remaining will be declared victor._  
_#8 A prize will be given to the first place winner of each bracket, and the audience will choose their favorite from among the winners to receive an additional special prize._  
_#9 Only 8 participants will be chosen from each bracket of the preliminary to fight in the main tournament the following day._

The rules were basic enough and seemed fair. Ryuu went to Hall C and waited for his name to be called.

Several others came and went from the hall before him, about one every fifteen minutes. Some looked over at him and let slip an arrogant smile at the state of his equipment, or lack thereof.

When the time came, Ryuu entered the door.

A woman in uniform asked, "Participant Ryuu for the under 140?"

Ryuu nodded.

"Ok, remove all the equipment you wish to use in the tournament and let me see it."

Ryuu did so.

After a moment, she said, "Well, there is nothing against the rules here, but you don't intend to wear shoes, or gloves, or at least bandages? If you have none on you, some can be lent for the tournament."

"No thankyou, I'll be fine without."

"Very well, re-equip and come with me for the preliminary test."

Ryuu walked into the preliminary testing area wearing only a monk gi. Other than that, he was practically defenseless.

The testing hall was a miniature arena without a ring, just high walls all around and several people looking at him from their tops. Immediately they started discussing, likely due to his lack of shoes.

A man from the top of the wall spoke, "The test will begin shortly. A monster of the appropriate level for the Under 140 bracket will be released into this arena. How you face it will be scored, and the eight participants with the highest scores will advance to the main tournament. Are you ready?"

"Let's go."

At Ryuu's affirmation, a steel bar door opened at the far side of the arena. A moment later, a three meter tall monster that looked like a giant four armed ape with shaggy brown hair shuffled into the ring. Mountain trolls were level 120, and trolls had a high regeneration rate.

It spotted Ryuu and their eyes met. Ryuu understood it in that moment, it was afraid. Not of him, but of its situation. A wild beast caged and trapped and brought to fight and die. It charged Ryuu to kill him before it could be killed. Basic survival instinct.

Ryuu charged forward, when the beast raised its arms to grab him, Ryuu's hands caught the lower two arms and their fingers interlocked. Ryuu felt at once this creature's strength was more than twice his own. The troll raised its upper arms to smash Ryuu into pulp, but it didn't get the chance. Besides feeling its strength, Ryuu also felt the position of its muscles on its arms, the location of the tendons, the size and thickness of the bones, and even the maneuverability of the troll's joints. With a snapping jolt, Ryuu rotated his hands against the troll's, repositioning the joints and pushing them in a painful direction. Although his strength was far less than the troll's, by using bursts of muscle strength rather than continuous use, he could overpower the beast for an instant, all the time he needed to adjust the troll and lock him in place.

The new position of the troll's lower arms cause the upper arms to spread back. Trying to put them together hurt, as did trying to move its lower arms. The troll tried to use its legs to move away, but Ryuu forced it into a lower position, and using its legs to move up caused immense pain. The troll met Ryuu's eyes again, trying to emit strength, but the attempt faltered when it saw them. Ryuu's glare was one from a position of power over another, the stare of one who held life in his hands and could take it at a whim.

After a tense moment, the beast broke eye contact and gave up. Fear turned into acceptance and it awaited its fate.

Ryuu released the beast. It backed away quickly, watching Ryuu, but not meeting his eyes. It turned slowly and returned to the door it came through.

_You have defeated a mountain troll without combat. Fighting spirit increases by 2. (+1 FSp)_  
_You have defeated a wild mountain troll without harming it. Affinity to nature increases by 5 (+ AtN)_

Ryuu didn't like killing wild animals, even dangerous ones. They could not help their instincts. The bonus stats were unexpected, but welcome. Good deeds in Royal Road gave their own rewards it seemed.

The people in the stands above the wall were discussing loudly, though Ryuu could not understand it from the distance.

The man from before said, "The scores the judges have given you place you 5th overall. There are only three more participants yet to take the test, and even if all three place higher than you, your place in the tournament tomorrow is assured. Congratulations."

Ryuu gave a bow and left. The woman from before said, "Congratulations on making it. Here is a key to the Ram's Horn Inn. A room there is available for you tonight. Good luck."

Although he thought his performance was impressive, placing only 5th damaged his pride a bit.

The Ram's Horn Inn was attached to the stadium and for exclusive use of the participants. Because he got a key before the results were posted, Ryuu expected to be the first inside, but he was the third. A man in a half-plate armor saw him enter and said, "Hey, I saw you sitting outside Hall C. You're in the under 140 right?"

Ryuu answered, "Yea, I remember you too. Seems like we may be fighting tomorrow." The man had left Hall C a few moments after Ryuu started waiting.

"Maybe. What place you get? They told you right?"

Ryuu sighed, "5th, with three more to go."

The man nodded, "I was in the Under 100 last month but I don't remember seeing you there. Is this your first tournament?"

"Yea."

"Well, the prelim fight ain't just about skill or speed, it's about flashiness. People pay for tickets to the tournament to see amazing fights. Plenty of strong fellas been turned away at the prelims for just quickly slayin the monster there without any flash. You read in the rules that there is a prize that goes to the audience favorite right? That's prize is better than the one that goes to the under 220 bracket champ, it is incentive for everyone to fight real flashy."

Ryuu felt he understood now why he only got 5th place. One could say his fight was impressive, but it wasn't flashy, in fact he had not used a single skill. It was likely the only reason he got enough points to make 5th was because he had the judges curious enough to make them want to see him fight.

At this point Ryuu realized he had a problem. Although his style was efficient and effective, it lacked in 'flashiness.' Even in the world martial tournament he did nothing that appeared flashy to observers. If he really wanted to show off his style, he needed an audience to be interested, and to do that, he needed to be flashier.

Ryuu said, "Can you tell me about some of the better fights you've seen?"

"Sure, I got loads of stories."

The fighter told Ryuu of the most exciting fights he had witnessed in the tournament. What was required to gain the favor of the audience boiled down to exotic skills, fast paced fighting, and come back victories.

An hour after the pair begun talking the doors to the Inn opened and some two dozen people came in. The only one from the line Ryuu recognized was the mage, Zack.

After a delicious meal Ryuu went to his room. Other contestants chose to talk amongst themselves but he refrained from doing so. One of the biggest draws to the tournament was the high concentration of skilled players. Many entered not for the prize, but to meet people to form parties with later. However, as Ryuu was one of the lowest level participants and had never been seen in the tournament before, no one even attempted to talk to him. Even the fighter was busy talking with other people. Ryuu decided it would be best to go to his room, log out, and return when the tournament started.

The Varhales Tournament took place over eight hours, with each bracket's champion decided within two hours. The cost of a ticket for a bad seat was about 12 gold, a front row seat around 75, with others inbetween. The stadium could hold over three thousand fans who could watch 32 fights and choose their favorite afterwards. Needless to say it was popular.

Ryuu watched the Under 100 bracket from the competitor stand. He felt a small twinge of regret for his rashness in not entering it. The combatants were skilled and he would've enjoyed himself. The bracket winner ended up being a battle priest. Such was not uncommon because when the time runs out the one with the highest health percentage wins, so a priest who can do a little damage and evade until the end then heal himself to maximum is a common sight.

The announcer for the tournament had blonde hair combed back, a black suit, and sunglasses. He spoke into what appeared to be a magic microphone that emitted his voice to all corners of the stadium.

"Ladies aaand Gentlemen! Wasn't that a Great Fight! It just goes to show you that anything can happen! Now, that the champion for the Under 100 has been decided, we will move right into the first match for the Under 140!"

The audience cheered on, the announcer had a very high charisma level so he could easily move the audience with his voice.

The lineup was decided earlier on at random. Ryuu's match was the last of the four, and the fighter he met the previous day had the first match.

"For the First match match of the Under 140, we have the level 121 Fighter Chase versus last month's Under 140 Champion, the now level 138 Mage Zack! Contestants to the Ring!"

Before being allowed to enter the ring, both contestants had Dispell cast on them by a shaman to ensure a fair fight.

"Let the Match Begin!"

Chase used Dash to close the distance between the two in an instant, but before he could get within striking range and explosion occurred on ground beneath him, sending him into the air and dealing great damage.

"Ohhh! Before Chase could get close, Zack opened with his signature spell from the last tournament to blow the fighter back!" yelled the announcer.

Instead of using a powerful spell with a long casting requirement, the mage used a weaker one with a short cast.

"Chase is back on his feet ladies and gentlemen and charging!"

Zack used the time he gained from blowing Chase back to cast a longer spell, one that dealt far more damage.

"Zack has launched Homing Fireballs! Will this be the end of the Fighter Chase?!"

Ryuu watched with great interest. Chase ran up to and between the fireballs, they turned to track him of course, but he had gotten through.

"WOAH! Chase dodged all the homing Fire balls and is heading straight for Zack!"

A fighter could use weapons or fight unarmed, Chase used a sword, and in an instant slashed Zack three times before the fireballs struck him in the back.

"Direct Hit! Both Zack and Chase are down."

DING DING

"That sound means at least one of the combatants has lost half their life, in this case both have, the match will pause for a moment. Will either competitor give up the match?"

Both Zack and Chase got up. Zack shook his head no, Chase said aloud, "You kidding, one more hit and I've got him. Let's Go!"

The announcer continued, "That's what we like to hear! Continue the Match!"

Zack cast the explosion spell a few more times but Chase moved unpredictably and closed in. Eventually He got close enough to deliver a fury of slashes, after which Zack collapsed.

Chase walked away expecting to be declared victor, but turned back when he heard Zack mumbling an incantation. Chase rushed to finish him off, but flames erupted around him and a circular wall of fire enclosed on him.

Zack could be heard laughing.

The announcer yelled, "Just when we thought it was over for Zack, he cast Firewall on the weakened Chase!"

Chase roared and jumped through the wall of fire, but collapsed on the other end, dead.

"Ohhh! Chase's health has reached Zero! The fire wall was too much to push through, we have ourselves a winner!"

Ryuu was both irritated and confused. As if to answer both, two of the other contestants in the waiting room began discussing.

"Hey, how come that Zack fellow didn't die? Did he cheat or somethin?"

"Not that I could see, more like a trick. Some mages have a Mana shield spell that takes damage with mana instead of health. The second round of attacks did affect him, but it only depleted a chunk of his large pool of mana instead of the rest of his small pool of health.."

"Then why did that fighter's first attacks affect him?"

A third contestant said, "That's what Zack does in every tournament. This is his seventh kill. He never casts Mana shield until the opponent agrees to fight to the death, then he kills them. Most everyone here knows that, but that Fire wall spell is new. He didn't use that in any of the tournaments before. Just rotten luck for the Fighter i suppose."

The other contestants left the waiting room, leaving only Ryuu staring at the empty arena.

Ding*

_Righteous Fury has unlocked the use of Aurora: Red._

The room glowed scarlet around him, his aura like fresh blood. He barely registered that he had been unconsciously using Aura, but he knew who he wanted to test it out on.


	8. Chapter 8 To the Victor goes the Spoils

Chapter 8  
To the Victor goes the Spoils

The second and third matches of the Under 140 Valhares Tournament were less eventful. A Thief beat a Priest and Knight beat a paladin. Some relatively flashy skills were used but the players themselves lacked real skill in Ryuu's eyes.

"We shall now begin the fourth match of the Under 140. The level 119 Ranger Lilith against... Umm... One moment.." The announcer went over to one of the judges and after nodding, he continued, "I've just confirmed this is not a typo, Lilith's opponent is the level 88 monk Ryuu! And what's more, this is his first tournament!"

The crowd didn't seem overly enthusiastic about Ryuu's appearance. His gi was standard issue and nothing about him seemed interesting.

One of the judges cast dispel on Ryuu before he entered the ring, and another cast it on the Ranger. They stood at opposite sides of the ring and Lilith took out a short bow.

"Let the match Begin!"

Ryuu sprinted towards the Ranger, but her speed in loading and firing was faster. Ryuu dodged best he could but still ended up with two arrows in his shoulder. He watched her eyes to see where she was aiming to predict the trajectory of the arrows, but suddenly she turned to fire at his left. Then towards his right. At first Ryuu thought they would obviously miss, but the arrow's path curved in mid-air and struck his legs.

_Movement Speed Reduced by 17%_

"Ohh! Just when it looked like the Monk was dodging the arrows, Lilith used Sidewinder to shoot his legs! Is this the end for the Monk?!"

Ryuu calmed himself down and slowly walked forward. Having taken four arrows from someone forty levels higher than himself, Ryuu's health had dropped by over three thousand. Almost half his health. But he felt what he got was worth more than what he paid.

"The monk shows no fear approaching the ranger."

Ryuu watched every millimeter of movement from Lilith's bow and arrow while being hit, he now knew her tells. Ryuu continued forward, and put one arm up, palm facing the ranger.

This seemed to piss her off. She let loose two more arrows right at Ryuu's head.

Ryuu moved his hand half a centimeter into position, right next to where the arrow would pass, and at the last instant he twisted his hand, making contact with the arrow's shaft and tilting its trajectory an inch off. The arrow passed Ryuu's outstretched arm, its path diverted, and missed his ear by a hair's breath. The same happened with the second arrow.

"What! Lilith's Double Shot has been diverted! And with only his outstretched Hand!"

Changing the course required taking a portion the impact with his hand, something that did cause damage, but far less than actually taking the arrow.

Ryuu's opponent faltered. Then took up her bow again. She aimed it to hit around Ryuu's hand but Ryuu moved it to always be in the path of the arrow. She tried firing Sidewinder, but Ryuu predicted its path as well.

Lilith put away her short bow and took out the sword from her scabbard.

"Lilith is switching to Close combat folks, the monk still has arrows sticking out of his legs, who will emerge Victorious is anyone's guess!"

Her sword shined for a moment before she slashed at Ryuu. He activated Battle forms to used the sword dodging motions he recorded in the skill.

"Woah! Even slowed, even at such a level gap, the Monk Ryuu is holding his own against Lilith!"

Ryuu was tempted to use disarm, but if she retreated back after losing her sword she could out wait him and win because of she had yet to take any damage. Also he needed to win 'Flashy' if he wanted his martial school to become well known. He decided to treat this not as a match, but an exhibition, and show the audience a few interesting moves.

Ryuu ducked beneath an attack and moved to her side, when she turned and attacked once more he then moved to her other side. After that he turned around and walked away. Lilith moved to strike his back, but her legs gave way and she collapsed.

"What is this? Lilith fell down, What happened?!"

Ryuu was the only one in the stadium who knew the answer. While moving to her side, he struck two points, one in her thigh and one in her abdomen with his elbow. The strike was precise but soft. She likely thought the impact was just him brushing past her. He did the same to her other side. When she moved to attack him after he turned his back, the muscles in her pelvis locked up, causing her to stumble forward and collapse.

Ryuu was still walking slowly away when she recovered and got back up. She charged forward to the back of her opponent, but Ryuu turned, caught her arm, and threw her. It was a simple throw that would not cause much damage, but she realized too late that Ryuu had been walking to the edge of the ring, and the throw sent her beyond the boundaries of the match.

She landed with a sound thud.

"Unbelievable! The monk has taken the victory!"

A pair of priests met him and healed him health back to full. Ryuu moved to the edge of the arena's inner wall to sit and watch the next match.

He didn't have to wait long. The mage Zack defeated the thief in under two minutes in a show of extreme force.

The next match was his own against a knight. The winner would face Zack in the finals.

"Next is the level 119 Knight Galfor against the level 88 Monk Ryuu. Will the monk be able to pull off another miracle, or will the Knight's strength force the Monk into submission?!"

The knight wore cloth armor beneath leather armor beneath a full plate armor. In his right hand was a spear, his left, a shield. He likely had the highest physical defense of the whole bracket, even a dozen Aura strengthened Ki strikes would not be enough to faze him. If Ryuu wanted to win, he had to either deal more damage than he received, or get the knight out of the ring.

Ryuu took a stance and approached cautiously. He decided on the former since he used the latter in the previous match. Besides, Ryuu had trained with every weapon there is so he could in turn teach their use to his students. He knew quite a bit about how to survive against a spear.

The knight took a long step forward and thrust his spear at Ryuu in an attack that covered two and a half meters in an instant. But Ryuu had been expecting it, he ducked beneath the tip and followed it back when the knight pulled it back.

"Ryuu has closed the gap between them!"

Ryuu struck the side of the Knight's pelvis with his elbows. The strength of the attack was a bit higher because it was apart of his Battle Forms skill, but the knight barely felt it.

The knight spun his spear to swipe at Ryuu, but it missed and Ryuu moved the the knight's back while hitting away.

Overall the knight would have a higher Agility than Ryuu, but the armor slowed him too much so the fleet footed Ryuu was faster.

When he figured he couldn't catch up to Ryuu, the knight resorted to Area of effect Skills, or AoE skills. He locked his spear beneath his arm and spun around in an attack that damages everything within two meters of the user.

"And Galfor uses the Spear skill Twister! But Ryuu jumped back just in time and took no damage!"

Ryuu covered his arms in aura and used repeated Ki strikes on the Knight. Galfor could only stand there and take it, Twister rendered the user immobile for two seconds after use.

For the next eight minutes Ryuu treated the audience to a splendid showing of David versus Goliath, dodging attacks by the slightest of margins without retreating while landing blows of his own.

Although the knight's health never reached the 1/2 mark, Ryuu had come out unscathed.

"The match is over! Winning with 100% of his health intact is the monk Ryuu!"

The audience cheered loudly. Although the fight was inefficient, those who watched were thoroughly entertained.

"There will be a five minute break, and then, The finals of the Under 140! Who will win?! The level 138 mage and last tournament's Under 140 champion Zack, or the miracle Monk with astounding ability, the level 88 Ryuu?!"

A shaman was brought to cast a spell that recovers both Ryuu's stamina and Ki, after which he returned to the ring.

"And without further ado. Let the Match Begin!"

Ryuu charged forward, but Zack cast Firewall between them. He had advanced the skill so high his cast time was as low as explosion.

"And before Ryuu can get in range Zack draws a firewall between them. We've seen first hand what happens to those who try to cross it, and without armor the level 88 monk can do nothing but stand there!"

Zack cast another fire spell and five flaming darts shot through the fire wall, two of them hit.

"And just like his previous match, Zack casts Fire Arrow through the firewall to attack his opponent. Wait! What's this? The Monk is Glowing Red!"

Ryuu had activated his aura and used Aurora to change it to red. This changed some of the nonphysical damage his aura did to fire damage and increased his own resistance to fire magic. The fire magic hurt but the two shots didn't even take a quarter of his health. Ryuu rushed through the fire itself, and emerged on the other side, taking only minor damage.

"THE MONK HAS JUMPED THROUGH THE FIRE WALL! THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE!"

The look on the mage's face was priceless but he was already casting another spell. A pillar of fire spouted up from beneath Ryuu as the fire wall behind him died out. The damage from the spell was reduced but almost a quarter of his health had been lost.

The mage ran away, trying to get distance between them while casting his spells. Ryuu chased, but fire pillars erupted between them, he tried to go around, but more popped up every time.

"Zack still has the upper hand! Thanks to the skill, Spell Loop, he can cast the same spell over and over again with lower casting speed."

Another fire pillar erupted, this one too close to dodge completely, Ryuu's health dropped below 50% from the damage.

DING DING*

"The monk's Health has dropped to half his maximum. Will you forfeit or continue?"

Ryuu sighed. He really didn't want to do this, but he had no other choice. He walked over to the announcer standing at the edge of the ring.

"Oh? Is the monk going to call it quits?"

Ryuu stoped at the edge and put his hand over it. The announcer approached and took what Ryuu gave him, four rings. Ryuu said, "Hold onto those, I'm continuing the match."

As Ryuu watched back into the arena, the announcer examined the rings.

"What? WHAT?! HAVE?! Have you been wearing these the Entire Time?!"

His words echoed across the stadium, causing a great deal of interest.

Ryuu turned back and nodded.

The announcer pulled out a sheet of paper and examined it before saying into the magic microphone, "Ladies and gentlemen, Ryuu has just handed me four rings. According to this, he registered them yesterday to wear for the tournament. There was no rule against them. These are Atlas Rings of Restraint. Each curses the wearer to increase the body's weight by 50%, and Ryuu had four! That means, until this point, Ryuu has been fighting while his body weighed three times its normal mass!"

Zack shouted at the top of his lungs in protest. "What?! Why were those allowed?"

The announcer answered back, "The rules state that any item deemed to give an unfair advantage is illegal. And although having greater weight increases the power of some attacks, the downside was too great to be considered 'Unfair,' no matter how many he wore. The match will continue!"

The audience's interest was focused solely on Ryuu, though he still regretted having to take off the rings. He felt it was a breach of his training, but this mage deserved his full abilities, and he would get them.

In front of the whole audience, Ryuu leaned forward like he was about to fall down, then disappeared. Those in the upper stands only saw the next motion because he was still in view, but in the instant they lost sight of him Ryuu had punched Zack in the gut, flooring the mage.

Ding Ding*

"What! Did anyone see what just happened?! Was that a skill? Ryuu got in his first hit and more than half of Zack's health vanished!"

Ryuu wanted to end it in one hit, but the Tournament had protection cast on each player that prevented one hit kills before they had a chance to forfeit.

The announcer said, "Zack, do you wish to give up?"

"Hell No!"

"Then let the Match Continue!"

Zack cast what Ryuu was pretty was Mana shield, now Ryuu would probably have to deal anywhere between eight and fourteen thousand damage to kill Zack, but death was never what he sought in a match.

Ryuu walked forward, his aura shining like fresh blood around him in what was likely a menacing sight. Zack cast fire arrow, homing fire balls, inferno tower, and flamethrower, but all of it either appeared to have little effect or was completely dodged by Ryuu's new found speed.

It wasn't classified as a buff, but when a body weighed down suddenly become immensely lighter, the body becomes faster for about five minutes, much faster. In game, this equated to something like a cheat code, and although Ryuu would be faster anyways without the rings, after having just taken them off he was under the effect of the lightened load state of body, and that speed could not be compared to his speed with or without the rings on.

The mage eventually cast Fire wall again, but this one was thicker and burned hotter. He likely poured all his mana into it to make a few layers on top of one another. Ryuu didn't look like it from the outside, but he had taken massive damage from the Mage's attacks, he could not survive breaking through such a dense wall of fire. Not that he needed to.

Ryuu ran up and leaped four meters into the air, over the fire wall and right next to Zack. Before Zack could say or cast anything, Ryuu picked him up by the robe and threw him out of the ring.

"That's It! The Finals is Over! With an amazing show of acrobatics, the level 88 monk Ryuu has triumphed over the level 138 mage Zack and has become the Champion of the Under 140!"

_You have become Champion of the Under 140 Varhales Tournament._  
_Fame +150_  
_You have earned the Title: Underdog Champion_  
_Stats increased by 10% against foes 40 levels or more above your own._  
_Fame +200_

The audience roared in applause, something that made Ryuu a bit embarrassed. He went to the announcer and retrieved his rings which he then re-equipped.

After three more hours and two more brackets, the Varhales tournament ended, and Ryuu stood next to the other champions. Each of the four champions received a prize for winning, Ryuu's prize for the Under 140 was a pair of bracers that increased strength by 80, though the level requirement was 120.

"And now, will the audience please choose their favorite Champion to receive the special prize!"

By a show of applause, the audience had chosen Ryuu.

"And There you have it! Ryuu has the lowest level among the winners and this is his first competition, but that just goes to show you that Anything can Happen! I hope to see you all back for the next tournament!"

The special prize was handed to him afterwards, it was a pair of earrings that increases magic defense by 15%, and had a level requirement of 100.

Ryuu found out only later that the grade of Tournament prizes was always exceedingly high, and that if he sold the bracers and earrings, he could make as much as 22,000 gold pieces. 


	9. Chapter 9 Nearwood Forest

Chapter 9  
Nearwood Forest

The fallout from the tournament was better than Ryuu could've hoped, and not just the prizes. NPCs of the city that were usually indifferent towards him suddenly became friendly, helpful, and willing to share information. Stores he went to offered him discounts, and most of all, quests were easier than ever to come by.

Three weeks after the tournament, Ryuu's level had reached 96, and his Unarmed combat mastery reached intermediate level 5. At this point he decided it was time to branch out.

Xiao Xiang Kung Fu was a style that adjusted itself to make its practitioner the strongest. One of the main points of the style was that in addition to fighting with bare hands, all students were encouraged to learn and master at least one weapon. Mastering at least one weapon got the students familiar with weapons in general, and thus more comfortable fighting with, and against weapons. As an instructor, Richard Smith had to master nearly every weapon so he could, in turn, teach them to others. As a player in Royal Road, Ryuu had one weapon in mind to master, his favorite weapon, and one of the few a monk could equip, the staff.

Ryuu visited a Weapon's Shop. This was one of the nicer ones in the city run by a skilled woodworker. It had wooden staves made of wood that increases magic attack for mages, it had a variety of bows and arrows of every size, and of course it had a selection of staffs.

"Welcome to my shop," said the owner. When he noticed the obvious fact that Ryuu was a monk, he said, "We have bo staffs and quarterstaffs, which are your preference?"

Bo staffs were a bit shorter than the average height of a man, quarter staffs were taller. Both had advantages, but as a monk without long or even mid distance skills, he needed the one with the longer reach.

"Quarterstaffs if you would be so kind."

The carpenter showed him to a wall in the back that had dozens of different types of staffs. What most impressed Ryuu was that he could actually afford them all. With the exception of having his Gi repaired at a tailor every once in a while, Ryuu was completely self reliant and had no need to spend the money he earned from quests and monster hunting. His current money was about 1680 gold, and the most expensive staff on the wall with a level requirement of 180 cost only 1200 gold.

"The diameter and flexibility of each vary. If you like you can try a few against a straw dummy we have in the back."

"Yes that would be perfect." Ryuu recognized the names of some of the woods but others he did not. The only way to find the best was to try them all out.

Ryuu practiced for a few minutes with each staff. His could use them all well but a personal preference of his was a certain degree of flexibility that made the best use of some of his favorite staff skills.

After an hour he brought back one staff to the counter.

_Toru Wood Quarterstaff_  
_Durability 90/90_  
_Attack 43_

_This two and a third meter staff was carved from the limb of a young Toru tree to be both flexible and resilient. _

_Requirements_  
_Level 90_  
_Strength 120_

"Ahh, good choice. The price is 176 gold. But you were the winner in the Under 140 of the Varhales tournament right? In that case I'll reduce the price to 167 gold. I hope you will use it in the next tournament."

Ryuu paid the man and thanked him. Afterwards he returned to the monk's guild and went to the basement. In a certain room in that basement one could add basic martial forms to a skill known as Battle Forms. For Ryuu the skill was at beginner level 7, and it gave an increase in attack speed and strength when using martial forms previously added in that basement.

_You have learned a new skill: Polearm Mastery_

He spent the next week only using the staff to fight, getting his Polearm mastery to beginner level 4.

One day in a tavern Ryuu frequented for lunch, a group of Users came in and started discussing with one another.

"Still can't find anything?"

"No, all the NPCs know the rumors of it, but none seem to give the quest. I asked if I could help but my familiarity in this city is too low. They all gave the same answer. 'I can't trust you with that.'"

"Man, when all the NPCs start talking about the same story, that means the quest is pretty good. I know a guy who went spent a week in the forest slaying them crazy monsters, but when he came back the NPCs still didn't give him the quest."

Ryuu decided to investigate this himself. He went to an NPC he had done four different quests for, the last one being a D rank. "Excuse me, do you know of any rumors of crazy monsters in a forest?"

The old man, a sculptor and carpenter well known for his fine workmanship answered, "Yes, I heard of that. Every since the last full moon, the monsters in the Nearwood forest have been exceedingly violent. They leave the forest and attack travelers on the roads. It is quite terrible."

Ryuu nodded and said, "Is there anything I can do?"

The old man looked over Ryuu and said, "Hmm, if its you, maybe. Go see Rolden Yender. He is a farmer living in the south. Ask him."

Ryuu thanked the man and left. On his way south he stopped by a few houses to ask for direction, he eventually made it to a large wheat farm.

Ryuu knocked on the door, a few moments later a middle aged man with a long brown beard came and said, "Yes? What can I do for you?"

"Are you Rolden Yender?"

"Hmm? Yes I am."

"I came to ask about the monsters of Nearwood forest."

"Oh? Hmm, you look familiar. Have we met before?"

"I do not think so, but I did take part in this month's tournament."

"Oh. Ah yes, you're the one who won the Under 140. Yes, I always go to see the tournament. You fought well. I'm glad you defeated that Zack character. I don't like the ones that use the tournament to kill."

"Thankyou for your praise. I agree that tournaments are not a place for others to use to kill."

The farmer nodded at this and said, "Yes, well. Hmm. You want to know about Nearwood forest? Well, the monsters there are very large, but overall there are not aggressive. But lately they have become violent. It is very strange. Hmm, yes. You seem capable, could you investigate Nearwood Forest to see why the monsters have become so violent?"

Ding*

_The Monsters of Nearwood_  
_Rank C_  
_A farmer wishes you to investigate why the monsters of Nearwood Forest have become so violent._

_Reward: Unknown_  
_Accept? __Yes|__No_

"Yes, leave it to me."

_You have accepted the Quest!_

Ryuu ate dinner with the farmer before thanking him and heading for the forest. He learned details of the beasts of the forest and was able to enjoy a good home cooked meal.

Nearwood forest is the largest forest in the kingdom or any kingdom that shares its borders. Tree cutters and lumberjacks avoided it due to the protective nature and sheer size and number of the beasts within.

Families of Razor Claw Bears that can shred through a fully armored knight with one slash of their claws. Five meter tall Tusked Hulks with arms so long and strong they can crush trees. Packs of Giant Boars that will charge anything and everything. And Horned apes that move through the trees and kill any unwanted guest that ventures into their territory. These are just a few of the known species of nearwood forest.

Ryuu approached the edge of the forest and immediately decided to take off his rings. This was his first C rank quest, starting with anything less than his full abilities was beyond foolish. He entered to forest and continued through. The thick canopies blocked out the night sky, the forest floor was lit by the few rays of moonlight that pierced through the leaves that bathed the forest in a pale blue light.

From a distance Ryuu heard the sound of fighting. Since he was there to investigate, it was not something he could ignore.

Two giant creatures with flat faces and enormous fanged lower teeth were engaged in combat. Their giant arms waving about, smashing into one another in a clash that shook the forest floor.

Ryuu watched and pitied them. He could tell the fight was abnormal. It reminded him of the preliminary test for the tournament, and the fear in the eyes of the mountain troll. At this memory, Ryuu had an idea.

Ryuu waited until one of the Tusked Hulks was down and the other about to finish it. He jumped in and smacked the hulk's flat nose with his staff. The enormous beast roared. It tried to smash Ryuu, but he had observed the brute's attack pattern, and was fast enough to dodge it with ease. Ryuu remained close to the beast, to make it keep attacking him, and keep missing. After a few minutes the beast collapsed, its stamina completely out.

_You defeated a rampaging beast without killing it. _  
_Affinity to nature increased by 2 (+2 AtN)_

Ryuu smiled. It was obvious that whatever was affecting the beasts made them fight, so as long as he stayed near it, the massive monster would keep using stamina trying to attack until it dropped.

The other Tusked Hulk got up, but simply left. Whatever it was going through seemed to have worn off.

Next Ryuu encountered a pack of Horned apes. Besides looking like skinny apes, they had bony protrusions all over their bodies that acted both as weapons and armor. Since there was more than one, trying them out wasn't possible, so he used his staff to attack their weak points at a distance until they collapsed. For defeating a whole pack without killing them he got five Affinity to Nature stat points.

When the morning sun could be seen through the trees, Ryuu found out two things. The first was that the higher his affinity to nature stat, the lower the chance of wild beasts unaffected by aggression attacking him. The second was that at some point in the night, people started following him. When the sun rose, they revealed themselves.

Two elves, wood elves from the looks of them, emerged from the trees and approached Ryuu as he was eating breakfast. Of course, he knew that two revealing themselves did not mean there were only two.

Ryuu simply said, "Good morning. Fine weather isn't it?"

One of the elves came closer, sat down, and asked in a somewhat strange accent, "What are you doing in this forest monk?"

Ryuu answered, "I was asked to investigate why the monsters have become so aggressive."

The elf replied, "You have entered our tribe's territory. Outsiders are not permitted. Turn back now."

Ryuu did not know there were wood elves in Nearwood forest. That being said the only things he did know about it was the things he learned from the farmer, so there were probably many things he didn't know.

"I apologize for my transgression. I will turn back if you wish, but before that, can you tell me why these beasts that were once peaceful have become so aggressive?"

"It is not your business outsider. It will be dealt with by us."

This was likely a standard greeting to people without familiarity. If he didn't want to hit a dead end, he had to gain some right now.

"The beasts have been aggressive since the last full moon. I cannot let these innocent creature's torment go on another day. Tell me what's going on. Maybe I can help you."

If they had been watching him they knew that he had not killed a single creature, so his words had some weight to them. And it was true that he could not stand by and let innocent beings, man or beast die if he could do something about it.

The elf looked frustrated before letting out a deep sigh. "The one responsible... Is an outsider, like you. He came two months ago and set up a barrier that prevents others from finding him. We can get through it, but all the teams we've sent have not returned."

_Quest Update!_  
_A mysterious outsider set up residence in Nearwood forest just before the monsters started going berserk. Investigate the outsider._

"Can you lead me to this barrier and help me get through it?"

"...You will likely die."

"I came to this forest prepared for that."

"Very well." The elf spoke in whisper to the other he came with. He nodded and left. The first elf turned back to Ryuu and said, "Follow me, it is not far."

After half an hour they reached a grove a trees. The elf stopped and said, "This barrier is similar to the one we use to hide our tribe's village from outsiders." He placed his hand on a tree and murmured something. Next, the space between the trees shimmered, like reflection off a still basin of water when disturbed. "Good luck monk."

With that he turned and left. Ryuu entered the shimmering space between the trees and came out in a hidden grotto, an open area he had not seen before. Inside was a small run down cottage. If it wasn't for the fact that smoke was coming from the chimney, it would look abandoned.

After approaching the door, a wave of light shot from a window and hit him.

_You have been affected by Frenzy. You are likely to attack your allies._

Ryuu felt like his temper had just been put on overdrive, like he had just been terribly wronged and it was everybody's fault. If he saw his best friend, he could probably think of a reason to beat the crap out of him on the spot, and not even bother to question why he was doing so. That being said, no one came with him, he had no one to take it out on.

No one but the person inside the cabin, the person he came all this way for, the person responsible for everything bad happening in this forest.

Ryuu activated his aura and burned it red. He charged the door and saw someone open it. Just as he got close enough to touch the door, his legs give way beneath him and he collapsed.

The door opened and suddenly the Frenzy effect wore off and Ryuu calmed down.

The person at the door was wearing a red robe and was clearly a mage. "What?" He asks in an annoyed tone. "Only one person? What a waste. You should've at least brought a party, a friend, hell anyone. I can't even get a proper test done."

Ryuu looked up, he hadn't gotten up due to the gravity magic cast on him. He asked, "Are you the one making the monsters go crazy?"

The mage answered, "Yep, you found me. Way to go. This place is perfect. I've been testing out a new magic I created that causes wide area frenzy. Imagine, casting it on a horde of monsters and watching them tear each other apart. Or on an enemy army and watching them kill each other."

"What happened to the elves?"

"Oh? You a friend of theirs? Well, they got into an argument or something and kill one another. I watched from my window, it was hilarious. I killed the last one myself. Wood elves are so weak against magic. Oh well. I guess it's time to kill you to."

He began speaking an incantation when Ryuu bolted up, wrapped a hand around his throat, and stepped out of the gravity spell's affected area.

"Wh-t.. b-t.. the... gra.v.. ty.."

To be able to create his own magic, the mage was likely over level 200. His gravity spell increased Ryuu's weight by at least 600%, something that would keep down your average melee fighter, but thanks to the resistance gained from wearing those rings, and the fact that he was generally use to moving while weighted, he could escape and silence the mage.

Ryuu delivered a few aura strengthened Ki Strikes, depleting the mage's health to zero before he could speak another syllable. He did not want to kill, but this guy was clearly evil and dangerous. If he had cast an attack spell instead of gravity just so he could gloat over Ryuu, there was a good chance he would be dead. Ryuu was also lucky that the mage didn't have Mana Barrier.

_Quest complete: The monsters of Nearwood forest._  
_You have discovered the source of the aggressive nature of the monsters of Nearwood forest and dealt with it._  
_You have leveled up!_  
_You have leveled up!_  
_You have leveled up!_  
_You have leveled up!_  
_You have leveled up!_  
_You have leveled up!_

When the mage died, he dropped two items. The first being a scroll. Ryuu unrolled it and read that It was a magic spell scroll that allowed for the one time use of the spell Thunder Storm.

The second item was small, no bigger than a child's fist. An orange orb seemingly made of glass with something in the middle of it. Ryuu picked it up, held it to the light and said, "What is this?"


End file.
